Miami-Dade Fire Captain Blames Trayvon Martin Killing on ‘Shitbag’ Parents of ‘Urban Youths’

[warrior1]

For the record, Trayvon Martin’s mother is a program coordinator at the Miami-Dade Housing Authority. His father is a truck driver. So neither parent is “dependent” on welfare.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/04/16/464890/miami-captain-shitbag-parents/

I hope he loses his job.

[Blue_Tires]

1. If he gets fired, he certainly has a future in Virginia...

I hope he gets his pension yanked, too

[tech_smythe]

42. He should not be penalized for his off-hours opinion

I think we are forgetting that we;re the good guys.
This guy was posting in a non-official capacity.
yes it's bullshit and racist as fuck.
but do we want to make another unemployed person in this market?

I'm sorry I'm not in favor of off-hours penalization.
No one should be fire for what they do in their off time as long as it's NOT illegal.

This guy is an asshole on this post, but does he do his job correctly?
and attacking his pension? that's not right.

Karma may catch up to him, but I'm sick of seeing people fired for off-hours comments.
talk about big brother.

[a2liberal]

43. +1 very well put (n/t)

[Incitatus]

44. If it was just a regular fireman, I would agree.

How about they demote him and place a better person in charge.
Someone with real morals and integrity. This is a leadership position.

Many corporate jobs will have you in hot water if you are caught acting like that off the clock, especially if you are a boss.

[klook]

45. Public officials should not have such protection.

He has a duty to serve the public, period. This kind of bullshit alienates a huge portion of the public he is supposed to be serving.

If he really posted this, his ass should be fired, and pronto.

[frylock]

46. i think this shitbag could learn a thing or two by collecting welfare

[Blue_Tires]

48. He's still a public employee and he put those comments out for public domain

which reflect on both the city and his judgement...

And off-hours private comments are one thing, but on FB it's the equivalent of screaming it out on a street corner, and it doesn't matter if he was 'on the clock' or not...

You do realize the "I and my co-workers" implicate his whole station, right? He's essentially proudly admitting that he and his colleagues are racist, and this is the collective opinion of the Miami-Dade Fire Dept...How do you think the folks down at city hall are loving this PR??

What if he was a police chief? Could you dismiss those comments as easily??

[SemperEadem]

107. right on the mark

he brought all of his co-workers into this by saying that "I and my coworkers".

He wasn't speaking as a private citizen--he was speaking as a public employee and for his other public employees.

They all need to be investigated if this dude is speaking for them in this capacity.

when they said "brain" he thought they said "train" and missed his.

[BeeBee]

50. This post calls into question his ability/willingness to perform his job fairly for all people. n/t

[Ecumenist]

51. STRONGLY disagree. If this cretin holds these f&cked up opinions of people, why in the

world is there any reason to believe that he can be trusted to give EQUAL and COMPETENT treatment to everyone , regardless of ethnicity, creed or color in the field? Those people, those HUMAN BEINGS he's making these disparaging and denigrating comments about ALSO PAY THE TAXES THAT PAY HIS SORRY ASS!

GET.RID.OF.HIS.ASS.ASAP!

[The Wielding Truth]

61. Yes. He should have respect for the people he works for - THE PUBLIC.

[xxqqqzme]

54. You think he turns that racist

mind set off just because he puts on a uniform?

[CakeGrrl]

80. +1000

I strongly believe some people carry it right into the job, to wit: The executioners masquerading as New Orleans Police.

[Marrah_G]

55. Would you trust that he could do his job without prejudice?

I would not trust that. ESPECIALLY in such a diverse big city like Miami. Fire in public housing? Well, maybe he won't be in such a rush to get there, considering how much he despises those sort of people.

[Earth_First]

69. DING! DING! DING!

We have a winner!

One wrong left hand turn, and damn, the whole second and third stories on a low-income housing complex collapses with fatalities because of this shitbags' racist opinions.

[Maine-ah]

78. made me think...

they must keep records on response time to calls. It would be interesting to see how long it took him to arrive at each call, would have to include distances, traffic etc...

[uponit7771]

81. EXACTLY!! He's a captian, legally that puts in into "agent" of that city dept and if someone claimed

...he had some kind of animus against them because of this statement the dept is screwed.

Someone of color or location doesn't get a promotion then bamb, these statements are in play..

It was a stupid statement

[FailureToCommunicate]

56. see reply #47 below

[Javaman]

63. While that may be true, public pressure will dictate otherwise.

the guy is a jerk and should learn a lesson or two about repecting other people. And if it takes him to be fired to have that happen than let it be so.

[Zalatix]

65. Damn I hate your take on this but I have to agree regardless. Damn. I want to see him fired, badly.

But once you cross the line with firing someone for ANY remarks made off the job, anyone is fair game.

[tech_smythe]

73. That's my point. I may H A T E this asshole's remarks...

but when and where do we start to draw the line and give people their privacy BACK?!

Don't get me wrong, I have the same visceral reaction as everyone else.
I have people like this.

I'd LOVE to see him loose his job, but on MERIT!

It just seems to me that the reaction on BOTH sides is "that person should pay for their thoughts".... guys that's the thought police. that;s 1984....

We;re supposed to be the GOOD guys... and it's painful, but we need to act like it.

I'm sure if we scrutinized this asshole we can find a LEGITIMATE reason to fire or demote him... but not for facebook posts.

that just strikes me as wrong.

[Rex]

94. Might strike you as wrong, but a lot of city workers

sign a contract with that city stating they will not do anything at anytime to embarrass the city for any reason. Maybe he will be lucky and not have signed anything like that, but if he did his goose might be cooked. Do I want one more unemployed person? Not anymore then I want a racist fire chief so out of touch with reality.

I guess we shall see what his comments garner him. All he can do is take responsibility for his own words.

As for getting caught being a racist...aww tough shit.

[Blue_Tires]

102. "give people their privacy BACK?"

uh...He posted it on the internet for the world to see -- It's not like he blurted this out in his living room and someone bugged his house...

And again I say, he is a city employee in a position of authority serving the public...he has posted online under his own name a laughably racist/classist diatribe in which he also purports to be speaking for some, if not all of the men under his command...Not only has he tainted the fire department, he has tainted the city, and trust me, people have been fired from city governments for way less embarrassment than this...

You're barking up the wrong tree with the standard knee-jerk, "PC thought police" defense...This person's comments have honestly brought into question his ability to serve his position without prejudice towards certain people...AND they have brought into question the city's oversight into into their hiring process...Just because you don't think so, these are perfectly "LEGITIMATE reasons" to can him...

If there is real, honest-to-god proof that the captain is really a good guy who treats everyone equally and this rant was just because of a nervous breakdown or he didn't have his morning coffee/meds, then fine -- Let him keep his job with a reprimand/suspension/demotion, but don't think for a second he should escape punishment for this...

Let me ask again: If he was a police chief or district attorney, would you still be defending him??

[barbtries]

71. he draws on his profession

to lend credibility to the hateful crap he's spewing. he deserves to be fired imo.

[spanone]

74. horse manure...lots of it.

[uponit7771]

79. He's an AGENT of the MD City and COULD open them open to lawsuites, THAT'S the difference here is

...that now he's shown animus in public towards a given culture or race.

This is stupid and uncalled for

[Crunchy Frog]

86. Under normal circumstances, yes. This individual occupying his particular position? No.

He's a public official with responsibility for protecting those "urban youths" and their "shitbag parents". And he's defending an act of homicide.

If he was a truck driver or an accountant or some office rat, then I wouldn't give a fuck about it, but in his particular position, it matters.

So, sorry but I must disagree with you.

[uponit7771]

91. This is a good one too, even if he's not at the scene he's a captain of the dept and if something

...screws up in a minority population then people are blaming him

[tech_smythe]

95. I'm glad I could create such a discussion on what is the important issue at hand

Yes his remarks are horrible, and if it's in his cont4ract that he can't say ill things off duty then that's that...

But THAT IS THE ISSUE... That someone CAN be penalized AT WORK for things NOT DONE AT WORK!

That seems inherently wrong to me.

He;s not an elected official, his life isn't supposed to be under a micro glass.

I'm not saying his actions are forgivable, and I THINK he should be scrutinized because of them... but it bothers me how easily we side with "them" when it suits our purpose.

It bothers me greatly that things done AWAY FROM THE JOB can reflect negatively on us.

When do we say "enough is enough" and protect even hate speech?

"I may not like what you say, but I'll fight to the death for you to be able to say it."

[Blue_Tires]

103. I'm curious now; what specific line of work are you in?

Every job I've had (media, city government, academia) there are countless ways I could have gotten fired doing something really stupid after hours (but perfectly legal in the eyes of the law)...

[SemperEadem]

108. most certainly if one is in a position of authority in the public sector

they can be fired for things done while not at work... has nothing to do with him being elected. It has to do with him taking his pay from the "sh*tbags", etc. who pay his salary. He cannot even be bothered enough to know that Trayvon's parents are gainfully employed, as if that makes a difference to their worth as human being. "Thou shalt not kill" isn't qualified by "only if your victim makes over a certain amount of money or are of a particular social caste".

and because he brought all of his subordinates into the equation by saying "I AND my coworkers".

It can seem wrong to you all day long, but it speaks directly to his judgment. He is a high profile PUBLIC employee...yes, what he does comes under the microscope.

he wasn't some dude down in his mom's basement engaging in some racist rant on a right wing nut website. He is a public employee, who is of rank and command posting on the most public networking forum out there--Facebook--and he didn't set his wall to "only friends"--it's set to "public", obviously and that's how his wall was screen grabbed.

This doesn't rise to "enough is enough" in the sense that he should not face the consequences of his actions. Not by a long shot. Only to apologists does it rise that far. You may not like it, but there it is.

[JoePhilly]

89. I can lose my job for actions "off hours".

So can most of us.

You have to wonder if such views impact his approach to his work. How he manages, how he hires.

After this, his subordinates can't trust him. neither can his superiors.

[CobaltBlue]

105. Yes, he should be penalized. Not only that ... he should be fired. And he can keep his pension.

This guy is an asshole on this post, but does he do his job correctly?
and attacking his pension? that's not right.

No. He stopped doing his job correctly when he expressed, publicly on Facebook, that he is hostile toward a certain demographic he serves in Miami-Dade County, in Florida. He serves all the people, not just some of the people. Privately what he thinks is one thing; letting the public know, even during off hours, doesn't negate that he is in a public position.

Karma may catch up to him, but I'm sick of seeing people fired for off-hours comments.
talk about big brother.

Off hours, publicly, is not protection. It's more an argument to those employed in the private sector. Mr. Beckmann is fire captain.

By the way: I have no problem with him keeping his pension.

[tech_smythe]

112. I can live with that

as i noted elsewhere, I don't mind if this instigates an investigation to how he does his job, and if THAT ends in his termination I'm perfectly fine with that.

I still take issue with firing someone for comments, offensive as they are, when not on the job.

If this starts a massive IA investigation into his department, all the better.

But to fire him ONLY for comments on facebook still feels wrong.

[Puregonzo1188]

2. This isn't the same team that suspended someone for praising Castro, is it?

[RockaFowler]

8. Not the Miami Marlins here

This is the Miami Dade Fire Department. It is kind of ironic that the Miami-Dade commissioners are not asking for this guy's resignation but were quick to ask for the Marlins to fire Ozzie

[Crunchy Frog]

88. Good point. The craziness that is Florida.

(No offense to any Floridians here.)

[Ecumenist]

9. This 'THING" is fire chief, for crying out loud! What business does he have saying these things

when he's sent out to help ALL people, NOT just people he thinks are worthy?!!

[Baitball Blogger]

23. His racist opinion is probably why he got the job.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Wow. nt

[Ecumenist]

4. WTF??! i hope this bastard finds himself losing his job so fast, his ARSE throws

sparks! Racist SOB!

[Rex]

5. Well SOMEONE is an ignorant, pathetic, failed shitbag

and I think their name is Brian Beckmann.

[madokie]

6. Only shitbag is him

[uncle ray]

12. what, only dumbasses are bald?

please, explain the correlation.

[Capt. Obvious]

16. He doesn't deserve hair!

[SidDithers]

18. Dumbass comment...nt

Sid

[Morning Dew]

10. and Beckmann doubles down

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/miami-dade-fire-captain-brian-beckman-facebook-investigation-trayvon-martin_n_1428013.html

TheGrio reports Beckmann responded to questions in a Facebook message with, "I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I choose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employer chose to do."

[vaberella]

28. Well he does know the law. n/t

[yellowcanine]

59. Maybe not. By referring to his coworkers he may have crossed a line.

Because his coworkers don't appreciate being lumped in with his racist attitudes. The fire dept may be able to discipline him for the slander of his coworkers and by implication the fire dept - particularly if he makes it clear on his Facebook page where he works.

[Leftist Agitator]

35. The Miami-Dade County FD has the right...

To fire his ass for any reason they want. I think that his racist tirade would qualify.

[coalition_unwilling]

37. He probably enjoys Civil Service (or even collective bargaining) protection. Just

a guess.

The cure for speech like his is more speech (and quaint and obsolete notions like shaming).

[Blue_Tires]

49. He'll be playing the 'persecuted victim' card by tomorrow morning...

[Historic NY]

93. Ah but he works for the public that employ him.....

life could get rough buddy sitting in a room all day w/o a phone or a pencil.

[Laurian]

11. Damn. Just when I think I've heard all the hateful commentary possible,

along comes another one. I, too, hope he loses his job. Even if we can't stop people thinking such vile thoughts, maybe they'll learn to keep them to themselves. It needs to be made clear to people like this that there are consequences to their blatant hate and intolerance.

[Sancho]

13. Does Al Sharpton know about this?

I'd bet it would be interesting to see this on national tv...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. The irony is because he is a public employee....

....freedom of speech will likely come into play if he is fired.

Unlike someone equally as disgusting as, say, Rush Limbaugh, who is not a public employee, but the "freedom of speech" mantra is often incorrectly applied to him. (Although Rush's employers apparently don't give a damn about the man's verbal diarrhea.

[Baitball Blogger]

25. I beg to differ.

There is such a thing as a vote of confidence.

[OneGrassRoot]

15. Pathetic asshole n/t

[randr]

17. Title confused me

I thought he was talking about Zimmerman's parents.

[Dirty Socialist]

19. He Should Get Fired

But we're talking Florida here. He will keep his job.

[Baitball Blogger]

20. Time to clean house.

Maybe the police department is the right place to begin. All across the country. These captains are brain washed.

[bonniebgood]

66. this is the exact attitude

and thinking that got Trayvon killed. He should be fired for an example.

[CatWoman]

21. the irony is because Trayvon had two parents who loved, nutured and groomed him

and were shattered about his death, this case came to light.

If he had been a cast off, or son of uncaring, addicted or uneducated parents this case would never have seen the light of day.

[Baitball Blogger]

27. Damn. So true.

And it's not likely the police chief will get this irony.

[tblue37]

100. Fire chief, not police chief. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

111. Well that's a relief.

Somewhat. I wonder what his track record is in saving houses in depressed areas?

[Blue_Tires]

41. yeah, I'd said that same thing the first week

Racists have tried their damndest, but it pisses them off to no end that they weren't able to simply 'dismiss' the killing away like they have so many others...

Too many Americans buy into the unquestioned, "Well, if he got shot he must have been doing something" assumption from the legal system and media

[Mr Dixon]

22. Very Sad

SMH

[Whisp]

24. ignorant pigfuck.

and so if they were on assistance, so what, does that mean he and his gunnuttery nutjob racist fucks can just go out and shoot black kids if the kids parents are below a certain annual income?

ignorant pigfuck!

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Let me put it this way

Chief is white, just let me take a wild guess.

So it is not what he is saying, but the environment that allows them to feel safe and say this.

The scab is fully off.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

29. The saddest thing about this is the screen cap shows his FB profile pic.

And it likely is his kid, probably around the same age as my 4 year old.

I could never imagine wanting to expose myself as a hateful racist knowing how it would reflect on my own children.

But apparently it never crossed this guy's mind.

[EFerrari]

33. Seriously. n/t

[musiclawyer]

30. Because he is a public employee, his speech is scrutized differently

It has nothing to do with his job performance. Rather is the speech disruptiveness in the work-place and outweighs the first amendment interest. Soooo. Let's see how disrupted that workplace gets!

If the people of Florida want the guy fired, it's really in their hands.

[secondvariety]

70. You are right.

I'm a public employee and my contract says if my off-hours behavior becomes a distraction or an embarrassment to my employer I can be terminated.

[vaberella]

31. He just proves to me why Institutional racism exist and profiling does.

Because racist shitbags have high positions.

[freshwest]

62. Sad but true. Glad he outted himself.

[myrna minx]

32. That's appalling.

[fightforfreedom123]

34. So Beckman's argument is

If Martin did not want someone to be afraid of him and shoot him; he should not have been wearing a hoodie?

No, Zimmerman shot Martin because Martin was Black.

The people of Florida should scream for Beckman to be fired. If Beckman hates the poor and blacks then how do they know Beckman will protect them?

[Slamdrive]

36. I just phoned the fire department he works for

The # is 305-416-5400. The secretary whom I asked to let me speak to Beckmann yellled at me for telling her he's a racist. She replied, "what about you"? I said huh? How am I a racist? She hung up.

[agentS]

38. Sounds like the whole department has problems!

[Rabrrrrrr]

39. Might be worth going up the authority ladder in the fire department and report her as well.

She did not act very public relations-y.

[Ecumenist]

57. Maybe we should all give them a call to see what exactly is the problem there....WHADYA SAY?

[Lilyeye]

97. The typical "if you call me a racist that means you're the racist"

[JonLP24]

40. Woah -- talk about pre-passing judgment

[msongs]

47. "I and my coworkers.." - he is speaking as an employee, not an individual person. fair game nt

[yellowcanine]

60. Yeah he may have crossed a line there particularly if he makes it clear where he works.

And a reasonable person would assume that he is talking about the M-D fire dept.

[Odin2005]

52. "Urban Youths" is code for "Blacks and Hispanics", I bet.

[Cali_Democrat]

77. Yep

Not so subtle.

[CakeGrrl]

84. Of that I'm CERTAIN.

It's the new code to say 'nigger' and 'spic' without using the actual words.

[Rex]

87. Yes I bet you are spot on.

I bet this guy feels like if you are a minority and wearing a hoodie, you are automatically up to no good. As simplistic and foolish as that sounds, he seems to believe it without any real questions. People like that are dangerous and I for one am glad he opened his simpleton racist mouth and inserted both feet.

Racism? Alive and well and evidently thriving in some places.

[obamanut2012]

106. It's code for Blacks and Haitian Blacks

I know people who love in Dade County, and the bigotry towards Blacks, ESPECIALLY HAITIANS, is appalling and rampant, even with people who consider themselves liberal.

[BumRushDaShow]

109. "Youths" in general has become the new code word

for minority children just like "Inner City" is the new "ghetto" or "slums" or "barrio".

White children are "children", "teens", "tweens", "youngsters", "young people"' , but all Black children are "youths", like some amorphous animal or object.

[asjr]

53. I would be happy to pitch in on a

one-way ticket to Arizona. The governor and the sheriff would be waiting with open arms.

[firehorse]

58. call and ask if this is the fire department -- that wears white pointy hats.

[grasswire]

98. good one n/t

[Festivito]

64. Free Republic hasn't figured out that Trayvon's parents work, let alone that both work.

86 responses and their source website Grigio or something does not update their article, but, in a separate article, way at the bottom, without comment, dryly mention the names and jobs.

It's hard work to remain that angrily ignorant.

[sakabatou]

67. I'm pretty sure that guy's gonna be on Fox "News" soon

[Drew Richards]

68. looks and sounds like a typical Florida klansman. Public servant? Time for you to move on bubba

[varelse]

72. He should be fired

He is a public servant, and all of the people in that county should be able to rely on him. I wonder what it is like for the non-white people who work in that group. Could there be a more hostile working environment than the one implied by this man's very public comments?

[Doctor_J]

75. What a shame...

we'll never fight back.

[Thinkingabout]

76. So we can blame the dumbchit parents for the trigger happy whatever name you want to call Zimmerman.

Zimmerman was waiting for the moment he could pop someone. He should not have a gun ever again, he was out of control.

[McCamy Taylor]

82. I blame the retired judge.

[Crunchy Frog]

92. Well, he was certainly expecting Daddy to get him out of any hot water he got himself into.

And Daddy tried pretty hard. I think Daddy Z would qualify as a "shitbag parent".

[CakeGrrl]

83. ...and social media drags more cockroaches out into the light.

That's a good thing in the long run.

It's good to know the true character of people masquerading as earnest public servants.

[Crunchy Frog]

85. Them black kids in hoodies is all the same. And so are their parents.

I really hope this isn't needed.

[Enrique]

90. I keep having to remind myself

did Trayvon kill someone, or is he the one that got killed? The things some people say about him make me wonder if I have it backwards.

[Catherine Vincent]

96. Pathetic!

What a hateful son of an asshole. What used to be said behind closed doors come out on the internets.

[Number23]

99. Hateful, ignorant SOB

[abelenkpe]

101. Brian beckham racist judgmental ass

Hope he's not carrying a gun eager to be judge jury and executioner of those he deems shitbags.

[CobaltBlue]

104. Fire him!

Brian Beckmann should get fired.

Serving in his capacity as fire captain in Miami-Dade, he is responsible to all the citizenry. He reveled himself hostile to a certain demographic … so, he is showing he cannot be trusted to serve them.

Beckmann, it should be reminded, took his hostility public … to his Facebook page.

I don't enjoy saying fire someone. But the captain brought this on himself. He evidently thought it was important to express where he comes from, and I don't begrudge him that, but the position he holds does not allow him to endanger the lives of those against whom he is prejudiced.

[marshall gaines]

110. but

yet there are more white people on welfare and are suspect in their parenting skills than all the "shitbag, ect" parents of urban(black) youths. Oh america, when??????

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

114. Kinda OT: It blows my mind how many

members of the military, and civilians who worship the military bitch and moan about "out of control government spending", and/or "lazy, pampered government employees"......