Credit: Pexels / Craig Adderley

The city canned a 10-year veteran with the San Antonio Fire Department Thursday over racist and threatening social media posts.

In a brief press statement, the city and department said the firefighter posted a “racially derogatory comment/image” along with an “incendiary and threatening comment regarding recent protests.”

“The City of San Antonio and the SAFD consider these posts absolutely unacceptable and reprehensible,” the statement also reads. “This type of conduct will not be tolerated, and employees that choose to engage in such behavior will be dealt with swiftly and severely.”

The firing comes as at least a dozen Republican officials around the state, including Bexar County GOP Chair Cynthia Brehm, have come under fire for sharing inflammatory social media posts in the wake of the George Floyd protests. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Department also recently put an employee on leave after he made a post advocating the killing of looters.

An SAFD spokesman declined to reveal the fired employee’s name, saying it wouldn’t be matter of public record until the disciplinary action has been finalized.

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Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...