Protest SMACSS: Two Minnesota firefighters out after ‘troubling comments’ on social media
Sauk Rapids volunteers reacted to incident where trucker almost plowed into protesters
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Social Media Assisted Career Suicide Syndrome (SMACSS) has become pretty common during times of mass political protests. Surprisingly, despite the great turmoil and unrest in the nation right now — with police, fire and EMS in the middle of it — there seems to be fewer incidents where those in public safety let their emotions take over on social media. One exception is this incident in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. The department describes itself as volunteer and providing “nominal pay” while on call.
Clarissa Baker, St. Cloud Times:
Two Sauk Rapids volunteer firefighters are no longer with the department after posting “troubling comments” on social media about the protests following George Floyd’s death, according to a city-issued news release Monday night.
“The comments in no way reflect the position of the City of Sauk Rapids, its fire department, city staff or the City Council and are contrary to the core values and mission of the City and the Sauk Rapids Fire Department,” the statement said. It was signed by Mayor Kurt Hunstiger, City Administrator Ross Olson, Fire Chief Jason Fleming and Police Chief Perry Beise.
Adam Uren, bringmethenews.com:
Both of them made posts relating to the incident on I-35W in Minneapolis when a tanker truck driver almost plowed into a crowd of protesters, with authorities saying on Monday he apparently did so inadvertently.
One of the firefighters shared an image of a semi-trailer with blood spattered on the hood, with the meme saying: “Just drove through Minneapolis. Didn’t see any protesters.”
Meanwhile, the other made a comment on a thread in which he said: “The best thing would be to get the truck driver out and blow up the tanker kill all those worthless people.”
When someone questioned their comment by saying “everyone has worth,” he responded: “Not them gotta drop a few with some bullets. Then I guarantee they think twice about looting and destroying stuff.”
