Fire capt. demoted for alleged Trayvon rant

(CBS News) A Miami Dade fire captain was demoted to the rank of firefighter after making alleged remarks on Facebook regarding the Trayvon Martin case, CBS Station WFOR Miami reported.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez issued a statement Tuesday about Captain Brian Beckmann's demotion, saying he backs the action taken by the fire department director.

"The comments made by Captain Beckmann were reprehensible and will not be tolerated. We can't have our employees, especially a supervisor, making such disparaging comments about any member of our community, much less one of our own employees," said the mayor through a statement.

"In order to avoid this from happening in the future," he continued, "I have directed my staff to revise the appropriate policies dealing with this issue. It is important to reiterate my position that public servants have a responsibility to uphold the highest levels of integrity and decency, especially when you consider our multicultural, multi-ethnic community. There's no such thing as being off-the-clock; we are public servants 24/7 and must conduct ourselves with the utmost professionalism at all times."

According to the report, Beckmann, a 17-year member of the fire department, allegedly made remarks in reference to the case of Trayvon Martin -- the unarmed teen who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer -- on his Facebook page: "I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, (expletive), ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents."

The fire captain said that he did not write the message and that he copied and pasted the comments from a website.

Aside from the demotion, Beckmann could face a substantial loss in pay and will have to take a psychological exam by a county doctor and diversity training courses.

Meanwhile, the firefighter union said the action against Beckmann, who is expected to appeal, is excessive. "We will immediately file an appeal to an independent arbitrator," said union president Rowan Taylor via a statement. "We anticipate that the case will be heard within the next few months. The decision of the independent arbitrator will be final and binding."

[sucori]

You can bet there's a lot mystic isn't telling you. Comments like his and Knower clearly demonstrate a very limited and tenuous connection with any "government job" and certainly so in the federal sector. Mystic possibly had a census position(government) for a summer. That would allow a fair commentary. As the state worker states these jobs are certainly challenging nowadays as any job is. But most fed jobs require a higher level of education and competence. Saying otherwise out of anger over one's own position doesn't make it true.

[sucori]

I worked in private industry and government and I'll be honest with you. The coworkers in the Fed government were, except for a smaller fraction, the superior group. Extremely talented and hard working. An offshoot of this is that their children were overrepresented in the Ivy's. The way I see it is, in the aggregate and in professional jobs, the government gets great people. Now if you want the VERY best it'll be in private industry because of the outsized pay. But you'll also get the worst there(in far greater numbers) and they can't get a government job. Until a few years ago you had to score competitively just like you would to get into an Ivy.

[AndTheBeatGoesOn55]

The comment was totally unprofessional for a high ranking public servant. I agree with the demotion. Also, firefighters make good money, so I do not feel too sorry for him. He is lucky he still has a job.

[stormerF69]

Is the Govenemnt not infringing on his first amendment rights of free speech? After all he works for the city government? Seems they are over steping their authority.

[sucori]

I totally agree with his demotion while I also understand his comments. His comments are unfair. On the other hand, while his comments are inappropriate because of his position, this should be a wake up call to urban community. You are not standing up to the plate. Ultimately you suffer more than any demotion with failed generation after failed generation. Take a look at Laotians, Vietnamese and so on. Against all odds they made/make it work.

[cbsblogger]

Anyone that uses Facebook is a naive idiot. They will archive your entire life, "friends", photos, and every comment ever made and when you run for office or hold a high level position someone will unearth it and use it against you and they have the right to copyright your life. The dude was a fool.

QUESTION: If the truth is politically incorrect is it better to tell a lie?

[AndTheBeatGoesOn55]

The Facebook user has behaved like an immature child. Anyone who wants to use Facebook as his soapbox for airing his personal rants has too much time on his hands and needs to get a real job.

[smittyc]

Pretty drastic punishment. Hope he goes to court and wins his lawsuit. Being that anything you say on a social networking site can become a problem, the answer is to stay off those sites. Sadly the United States is no longer a place where you can voice your opinion.

[stormerF69]

Slow as usual,.. He works for the city Government and this is a clear infringement on free speech,he did not slander his bosses nor release any sensitive facts of an investigation that would corrupt the out come.

[mars7578]

Putting the specifics aside,this is the new reality.Any and everything is fair game for an employer.As a matter of fact ,most companies outline a code of conduct for incidents while not on duty.

[technocoffee]

"The truth will set you free"..from your job, pay, standing in the community you serve-all because some of us WILL NOT play the politically correct game of saying racism is the cause of ALL ills in minority communities. When you speak out about those minorities, suggesting it will help them to stop churning out babies when in their teen years, neglecting those babies & living off public assistance and watching those kids turn into criminals, YOU are the one who is told to be quiet...some years ago when I worked at a major insurance company, I spoke out loud & in front of my co-workers about how I was sick & tired of a black supervisor being rude & over critical to white workers, while ignoring poor work habits of black workers. I was called into a supervisor's office later & was told I was being "disruptive". I informed them that I documented every event in the case I was fired for speaking out. The next week, that supervisor was assigned to another area, and it was never spoken of again, in a desperate attempt to shut me up!!

[technocoffee]

Um, I had to mention FACTS....the FACT was the black supervisor was making a difference in the treatment of the employees. Again, here's another dishonest P.C. racial apologist...blacks do no wrong & I'm the racist for speaking out against a boss who was hostile to white people; NO HINT OF REALTY IN YOUR P.C .WORLD!

[smittyc]

It's gotten pretty bad, had to move one of the kids to another school a few years back. Didn't complain or comment, doesn't solve the problem, but they all knew, were angry that we got around them and their game. The answer is to just stay away from them and there won't be problems.

[gottasay2u]

My dad used to say "The boss may not always be right but he's still the boss, Remember that!"

[stormerF69]

There is a difference if you for a boss,but for a city government to limit free speech? sparks of censurship.

[jumkey]

"I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, (expletive), ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents."

HAHAHAHAHAH....this from the white man who has spent his entire career sucking at the teat of government. Yeah, it's the blacks that have the problem with dependence on government money.

Racists are too funny.

[mysticpizza]

I have worked for the government in the past and there is a majority of them that are worthless and paying them is like giving out welfare handouts.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

I'm afraid I have to agree with mysticpizza. Most government workers get paid to sit on their behinds, and they collect raises from collecting dust. They don't do anything that a trained monkey couldn't do. The few government workers that do more should probably go private, because there is little to no incentive in government to achieve.

[gberke2]

Was the the (expletive) ? that did him in? The rest of it is the king's English. Was this man otherwise not an excellent public servant? Is there somebody less competent and capable that is yet serving on the basis of his NOT saying such things? Is it OK to think such things, but not to say them? Surprise, people: that is an accurate description of a class of parents that are really out there. How are you going to make them go away if you don't at least call it like it is?


"I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, (expletive), ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents."

[Ben37221]

Why is your comment not surprising? Just because you are socked in your hatred does not give you the right to splash every one else with your stinch. His comment is irresponsible and indefensable- unless by bigots like him.

[smittyc]

His mistake was saying it, you should hear some of the young people talk when they think the "somebodies" are not around. Everybody knows what's going on. People haven't changed that much, they are just clued in to be pc so as not to draw the attention.