South Carolina Fire Chief Steps Down After Telling Police To “Stop Responding To These Black Neighborhoods”

And to say there isn’t racism in America…

A Lancaster County, South Carolina fire chief has resigned from his position after posting a troubling message on Facebook to the police, “Stop responding to these Black neighborhoods.”

According to Newsweek, former fire chief Francis “Butch” Ghent felt it would be better for residents in these areas to “eventually kill each other,” his April 22 post stated.

His comments followed the deputy-involved shooting of Andrew Brown, Jr., a black man who was fatally shot in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

“Dear Police, stop responding to these black neighborhoods. They will eventually kill each other and the fake news won’t have a story.”

Ghent was the head chief of the McDonald Green Volunteer Fire Department in Lancaster County.

County officials told the Rock Hill Herald newspaper that they learned about his controversial post on Monday and promptly condemned his remarks as offensive.

Lancaster County Administrator Steve Willis confirmed to several outlets that the released apology was in the former chief’s own words and that he had been suspended from his position at the time.

Ghent resigned on Friday after making an apology to the Black community. He also asked for forgiveness during an on-camera apology.

The fire department had at least two African American members in the department.

“God forbid if he answers a fire at a Black home, are you gonna let all the kids and everybody in the home burn because they’re Black?” said Tonya Ross, a community activist in Lancaster, in an interview responding to the resignation on the Fox 46 Charlotte station.

This is America!