Facebook posting (Photo Credit: Arab American News)
A Detroit Fire Department captain has been put on leave without pay for disgraceful comments on social media that mock blacks, Jews, Arabs, Asians and Hispanics.
Capt. Tim Goodman is identified by the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Michigan, which expresses concerns about the Facebook posts.
A council statement says it reviewed more than 50 offensive posts by Goodman, including the "most deeply insensitive and offensive images that CAIR-MI has ever seen from a public service worker. Some of the most offensive images were posted while Captain Goodman was on duty at the fire house."
The Arab American News has this statement by Executive Fire Commissioner Eric Jones:
“The Detroit Fire Department prides itself on the delivery of service regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or religious affiliation. The current matters brought to light through the Council on American-Islamic Relations are profoundly disturbing and are already under investigation.
The employee that published the offensive Facebook posts has been placed on administrative leave without pay. The city of Detroit has a zero tolerance policy against any and all discrimination. Employees of the Detroit Fire Department are expected to adhere to that policy without fail.”
One post, according to The Detroit News, involves a photo taken near the captain's firehouse showing African-Americans at a parking lot tent where cell phones were offered to food stamp and Medicaid clients. A message underneath says: “In case you were wondering what the hell is wrong with America, I took this pic an hour ago at the corner of Greenfield and Grand River in Deeeeetroit.”
Another post shows Orthodox Jews with references to anti-Semitic stereotypes, CAIR says. Other posts have images of Hispanic immigrants with the comment, they will do "anything for papers." One post suggests that wet electronic devices be left in rice to "attract Asians to fix your electronics."
Other posts show people of Muslim and Arabic heritage with images of camels and captions such as "They're all terrorists” and references to bestiality, CAIR reports.
Goodman says on one post that he's a "Real American" because he "Drinks Beer and Carries a Gun. Eats bacon and not Humus. Drives a car, not a camel, and believes that goats are livestock and not wives."
CAIR says a handful of Muslims work in the Detroit Fire Department's EMS Division, some of whom are directly supervised by Goodman.
“It is exactly this type of xenophobic and racist atmosphere perpetrated at the City of Detroit Fire Department that led CAIR-MI to file a recent EEOC [Equal Employment Opportrunity Commission] complaint on behalf of a paramedic,” staff attorney Amy Doukoure says in a statement. "No civil servant who risks their life to save others should be subjected to explicit and implicit racism and xenophobia in the workplace."
