A Pennsylvania volunteer fire chief is apologizing for letting his true thoughts on the NFL protests seep onto the eternal archive of social media.
Taking aim at Pittsburg Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Cecil Township fire chief Paul Smith posted to Facebook saying that Tomlin “just added himself to the list of no-good n*ggers” for note taking the field during the Anthem.
“Yes, I said it,” Smith added later, doubling down.
When the backlash over his comments began to grow, Smith reached out to a local CBS affiliate to apologize.
“I am embarrassed at this,” he said. “I want to apologize. I was frustrated and angry at the Steelers not standing the anthem. This had nothing to do with my Fire Department. I regret what I said.”
From CBS Pittsburg:
Reaction to Smith’s post in Cecil Township was quick and negative.
Dylan Pareso, who lives across the street from the fire hall, said, “I’m completely upset, especially for a town like this, coming from the fire chief, that’s disrespectful in my eyes. I don’t agree with it one bit.”
Mary Plumley told KDKA-TV’s Ralph Iannotti, “For a fire chief or for anybody like that to say something like that is wrong. They don’t need to be in that position.”
“It’s not good. No, I don’t like it at all,” Janet Vickers said.
Watch CBS Pittsburg’s report on the story below:
Featured image via screen grab