Glenville, West Virginia Fire Chief Martin Hess was removed from his position following a violent, particularly insensitive social media post recently. Hess was fired after he posted a picture of himself on his personal Facebook wearing a shirt saying “All Lives Splatter.”
In the post, which Hess deleted, he’s shown wearing a shirt that shows a car running over people and the phrase “All Lives Splatter. Nobody Cares About Your Protest. Keep Your Ass Out of the Road.”
Obviously this is an insensitive thing to say at anytime, but for a public figure to say this during a particularly sensitive time in our nation’s history is simply unforgivable.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice issued a statement, saying, “My office has received information referencing various social media posts you have made which are inappropriate. I will not tolerate behavior like this from anyone representing the State of West Virginia.”
Hess apologized later, issuing the following statement on Facebook: “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. A peaceful protest is fine as long as no one gets hurts. 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’m sorry and did not mean any disrespect to anyone or any group.”
This message is clearly the polar opposite of what his shirt said and although it’s only a shirt, Hess should have known better, especially during this time. Justice made the right decision by removing Hess from his position and I applaud him for his quick reaction to this situation.
