A West Virginia Fire Chief has been fired after he was found to have made a number of "inappropriate and inflammatory" social media posts about the George Floyd protesters.
Governor Jim Justice confirmed that he has removed Martin Hess from the West Virginia State Fire Commission after he became aware of multiple social media posts on his profile.
One such post includes an image of a blood splattered truck with the caption "Just drove through Minneapolis, didn't see any protesters," reported WOWK.
Another shows Hess wearing a t-shirt with the words "All lives splatter. Nobody cares about your protest. Keep your ass out of the road."
The t-shirt also features a cartoon image of a car driving through a crowd of people and knocking them into the air.
Fire chief in WV got fired for wearing this shirt. pic.twitter.com/eWHNb9OW9j
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) June 5, 2020
In a statement Justice confirmed that Hess, the chief of the Gilmer County Volunteer Fire Department, has been removed from West Virginia State Fire Commission over the posts.
A letter from the governor to Hess was also published online.
"My office has received information referencing various social media posts you have made which are inappropriate," the letter states.
"I will not tolerate behavior like this from anyone representing the State of West Virginia. Therefore, I am removing you, effective immediately, from the State Fire Commission."
Hess later issued an apology on his Facebook page.
"Due to my post I have upset a lot of people and I am sorry for that by all means I did not mean [to upset] anyone," Hess wrote. "A peaceful protest is fine as long as no one gets hurt we need to remember that all lives matter we are all the same color in god's eyes so I guess all I can do is say I am sorry and did not mean any disrespect to anyone or any group."
Hess and the Gilmer County Volunteer Fire Department have been contacted for further comment.
Hess' removal arrives amid widespread violence and unrest amid the protests over the death of the Minneapolis man on May 25.
Footage of Floyd's arrest shows white police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on his neck for several minutes while the 46-year-old cries "I can't breathe."
Law enforcement agencies across the country have been accused of misconduct towards protesters, including recently in Buffalo, New York where two officers were filmed pushing over a 75-year-old man.
There have also been a number of instances of cars and other vehicles driving into crowds of people during demonstrations.
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