The Miami-Dade Fire Chief reported the firing of a firefighter suspected of making derogatory remarks about a police detective who died in the line of duty earlier this week.
Chief Joseph Zahralhan posted on Twitter that they determined Kevin Newcomb did indeed make those comments.
Chief Joseph Zahralhan said in a statement on Twitter that they had found evidence that Kevin Newcomb had in fact made those remarks.
In the statement, he claimed, “We have confirmed that the firefighter in question wrote a piece using a social media platform that demonstrated a disregard for human life, demonstrated violent, and demonstrated a hostile stance towards public servants.”
Newcomb made the remarks in a WhatsApp group chat, adding, “Who cares another dead cop probably against gun control.”
“Cops exist for the government to exercise its monopoly on violence. They want the whole world to stop when one of theirs goes down,” he continued.
The message read,”How many idiots I had to transport with honor guard their dead bodies from coronavirus because they were all too stupid to wear masks or get vaccinated,” All cops are for is protecting the rich property owners and the status quo. Everything else is a farce. F— the police.”
Alfredo Ramirez, the director of Miami-Dade Police, tweeted on Wednesday night,
The remarks were in response to the murder of Det. Cesar Echeverry, who was shot in the head during a shootout with an armed robbery suspect on Monday night.
Chief Zahralhan previously condemned the statements, saying, “We want to be clear that we, as an organization, do not share the views or beliefs that we were written and do not reflect the values of our organization.”
He stated that as public officials, the two groups rely on one another for mutual protection and that they stood alone with the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The chief went on to say that Newcomb’s comments were being investigated and that he had been dismissed of duty awaiting the conclusion of the investigation.
According to police, the 29-year-old police officer was shot as he and other officers closed in on a suspect wanted for a prior robbery in nearby Broward County.
When the driver of a white car involved in an earlier armed robbery attempted to flee, hitting police cars and a civilian vehicle whose three occupants were hospitalized in stable condition, police said Echaverry and other officers started pursuing the car.
He then made an attempt to flee on foot, but this was met with an altercation and gunfire.
Jeremy Horton, a 32-year-old driver from Acworth, Georgia, was shot and passed away on the spot.
According to Golden Beach Police Chief Rudy Herbello, Horton was pulled over in South Florida on August 8 and cited for no proof of insurance, driving with an expired tag, and a suspended Georgia driver’s license.
Echaverry had been a member of the Miami-Dade Police Department for five years and was assigned to the department’s robbery intervention detail.
The deceased cop was on his way up and was planning to marry soon.
