Ex-OH Firefighter Apologizes for Racist Post

April 13 — A former German Twp. firefighter, terminated by township trustees this week because of a social media post he shared, said in a statement he disagrees with that decision.

Former Lt. Bradley Baugh acknowledged his mistake in a statement, provided by his attorney Jason Matthews, to the Springfield News – Sun:

“In March 2018, I re-posted a Meme which was a re-post of a tweet from the Chappelle Show Twitter account. I did not intend to disparage any person due to his or her race, ethnic background or economic status and failed to consider that the post may offend others."

"I am deeply sorry for any hurt that I have caused due to the re-post. While I acknowledge that I did not use my best judgment in re-posting the tweet, I disagree with German Township’s decision to terminate my employment. I have successfully served as a Firefighter and Fire Lieutenant for German Township since 2009, without prior disciplinary action, and earned a Firefighter of the Year Award in 2012.

"During that time I treated all citizens with the same level or care and compassion without consideration of race, ethnic background or economic status in my duty as a Firefighter and as a private citizen.”

Baugh was released by the German Twp. Fire and EMS Department on Wednesday after trustees voted unanimously to end his employment. This came after an hour-long closed session that included the fire chief, Baugh, lawyers for both parties and the president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He was terminated after sharing a Facebook post on March 3 that says they “dropout of school & get a job at McDonald’s talking bout ‘On My Grind’ Yeah, okay, GRIND me up a Oreo Mcflurry with yo (expletive).”

The township was the second entity to release him because of the Facebook post. He was fired on March 9 after only a few weeks with the Springfield Fire/Rescue Division, according to city records obtained by the Springfield News-Sun through a public records request.

Another firefighter is also under fire at the division.

On Monday, firefighter Kyle Artis got into an altercation with tree trimmers in his Springfield neighborhood, according to court documents. It also says police were called after a “white male began yelling racial slurs and pulled out a gun.”

Artis was arrested and charged Tuesday in Clark County Municipal Court with three counts of ethnic intimidation.

German Twp. Fire and EMS Chief Tim Holman said this behavior is not acceptable. He contacted Denise Williams, president of the NAACP, about developing diversity training for the township’s first responders.

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