A battalion chief with Dallas Fire-Rescue has created a firestorm.
“It’s disheartening to see that this bigotry was out in the open,” said Marcus Armstrong.
Battalion Fire Chief Allan Springer is under investigation for multiple posts that some say are racist.
Some of them date back to April. One post talks about banning the Quran. In another post, there is derogatory language used to describe two civil rights reverends.
Then, there was his response on Facebook to pictures of bricks spotted in Dallas in the middle of the Black Lives Matter protests.
It questioned if the bricks were dropped off to incite riots.
Springer replied, “No s#@#. We need to find out who’s behind this and find a good tree to use.”
Armstrong leads the Black Fire Firefighters Association.
"Our association, the members that have reached out to me don’t feel comfortable with Chief Springer or working under him,” said Armstrong.
There are calls for Chief Springer to resign or be fired.
"It’s time to step up and do the right thing. People don’t want to work in that type of environment of hatred,” said Armstrong.
WFAA asked City Manager T.C. Broadnax about the posts, the investigation and if the chief would be disciplined.
“Those are the decisions the fire chief will need to make,” said Broadnax.
WFAA asked him if there was a problem with systemic racism in the department.
”Well, I think it’s in society, then you know it is in your organization. It’s going to show up,” said Broadnax.
It’s not the first time Springer has been in trouble. WFAA has confirmed he’s been disciplined before for questionable Facebook posts.
So, there are some within the fire department who say it’s time for him to go and for department leaders to take a hard look at racism in the ranks.
WFAA has reached out multiple times to Chief Springer for comment, he has not responded.