A Summit volunteer firefighter is no longer with the department after his racially offensive Facebook posts caused an uproar on social media and in the community.
Rob Ratcliffe faced a whirlwind of criticism online and in public Tuesday after his posts, some of them months old, came to light.
Fire Chief Stan McMorris told a standing room-only crowd at the town council’s monthly meeting that Ratcliffe had been asked to leave the department.
“I found it very disturbing that one of our firefighters would post something like this,” McMorris said. “He is no longer a volunteer fireman. We collected his gear today.”
Screenshots of three since-deleted Facebook posts from Ratcliffe include two racially offensive memes and a first-hand account of his visit to a local restaurant in October in which he calls a young Black child a “baboon.”
The town council addressed the issue immediately as it convened.
“To the family to which this terrible incident occurred, I am very sorry to see that. That is not something we need in this day and time,” Mayor Percy Robinson said, adding that as a volunteer firefighter, Ratcliffe was not an employee of the town.
“The town of Summit does not employ any firemen. They are not on our payroll. They are volunteer firemen.”
Robinson then opened the floor to Fire Chief Stan McMorris, who also expressed his apologies on behalf of the department and called Ratcliffe’s online activity inexcusable.
“I was taken aback this morning when I received a phone call from the family,” he said. “I do not stand for that kind of stuff.”
McMorris said he will monitor the posts of others in his department to make sure they are a “positive” reflection on the community.
“We serve the public, regardless of race, sex, national origin or anything, and I want you to know that I was truly hurt by what was done, and I beg your forgiveness,” McMorris said. “… I hope you will accept that apology, not only from me but from other members of our fire department.”
McMorris said the department will add social media accounts to its applications for volunteers and a review of prospective volunteers’ profiles will be screened as part of a background check.
He said he hadn’t monitored volunteers’ social media up until this point.
“They’re individuals. They’re volunteers. I do not know what they post on Facebook,” McMorris said. “I did not know this until today, and it shocked me. It’s difficult to control 40 different people and what they say or do.”
Councilman Marcus Pittman asked McMorris if Ratcliffe had presented any red flags about his viewpoints.
“No, he’s always been a good fireman,” McMorris said. “This happened in October. Had I known about this, he would have done been gone.”
Councilman Joe Lewis, whose 1961 Burglund High School class participated in a noted civil rights protest, said he was sorry to hear about the incident.
“I went through the same situation and that wasn’t a good situation to be in, and that was back in the ’60s,” Lewis said.
He asked McMorris to follow guidelines set out by the state fire academy on the issue when it comes to conduct and discipline and thanked the chief for his handling of the situation.
Councilman Julius Nash asked if the department’s handbook has a policy about this.
“We’re going to have to update it,” McMorris said.
Councilman Chris Daniels offered an apology from the town.
“On behalf of the board and myself … what happened is not who we are and we’re not going to let it define us, and we’re extremely apologetic for it, but this is not who we are as a town,” he said.
McMorris said Ratcliffe had expressed remorse over the posts.
“In my talking with him today, he’s very remorseful, but he has to live with the consequences,” the chief said.
Ratcliffe, whose Facebook page appears to have been deleted, posted an apology following the uproar.
“I know we all live in this world together and have to rely on one another through thick and thin,” he wrote. “We are all neighbors and I sincerely apologize for the posts I have made in any derogatory manner. I am sorry. I apologize to everyone and assure you it will never happen again.”
Valerie Smith of the Black Liberation Party of Mississippi addressed town officials on behalf of the family.
“We detest in any way the violation of our people and the violation of our civil protection,” she said, adding that that community was disgusted about the “negative comments about a minor child, a minor African child.”
Smith said an apology from McMorris and town officials is one thing, but it would have meant more coming from Ratcliffe.
“Chief, I understand you stated your apology, but he should have been here,” she said. “We cannot accept an apology from someone else who didn’t do it.”
Smith said the family involved in the incident, some of whom were in attendance but did not speak, is reasonably upset.
“I say to the family: You’ve got every right to feel the way you feel. Keep that feeling because y’all have got somebody with you,” she said. “You are messing with the babies and it’s got to come to an end. Black power, Black love. Power to the people.”
