Miami firefighter distances himself from 'sh*tbag parents' Trayvon Martin post

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This post has been updated.

A Miami-Dade firefighter who ranted about the “sh*tbag parents of our urban youth” in response to charges being filed against George Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin in February, is now distancing himself from his Facebook post.

The post was reported last week on theGrio after a source provided a screen capture from the Facebook page. The author, Captain Brian Beckmann, later acknowledged it in a Facebook message, but the post itself has since been deleted.

In it, he blamed parents who he said are on welfare, and the “ghetto hoodie look” for people fearing “our urban youth,” ostensibly, to include Trayvon Martin.

The post, which was on Beckmann’s private Facebook page, is under investigation by the Miami-Dade Fire Department, and some of Beckmann’s colleagues have complained to local news media that he included them in his comments.

Beckmann has stopped talking to reporters, but wrote a second Facebook message to this reporter, defending himself and saying he had long worked in the very “urban communities” he ranted about in his post.

Beckmann wrote on Friday afternoon, after theGrio’s story posted:

I have given 12 of my 16 years to Liberty City and Homestead/Florida City. I’ve never asked what color, gender, or race someone was before crawling into their burning home. I’ve been injured 6 or 7 times requiring multiple surgeries while serving low income communities. The truth is that the low income communities get the youngest, freshest, healthiest FF’s in any municipalities because seniority puts the older guys in more comfortable houses. Those are generally not in urban or industrial areas.”

And he added:

I won’t confirm authoring or copying and pasting that statement.

However, when initially contacted about the post earlier Friday, Beckmann defended it, saying:

“I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I choose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employer chose to do.”

And he offered to contact this reporter when he went “off-duty” to discuss the matter further. No such contact was made.

Liberty City is a predominantly black area of Miami.

Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, is a longtime employee of the Miami Dade Housing authority and his father, Tracy Martin, is a truck driver. Neither parent receives public assistance.

UPDATE: Miami Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s office has responded to the Beckmann controversy, in a statement emailed to NBC News affiliate WTVJ:

“If true, the comment by Captain Beckmann is reprehensible. It’s hard to believe that anyone would make such a comment given the tragedy that the family has had to deal with. I have asked the Fire Department Director to investigate if any County policies have been violated and will wait for the investigation to be completed to determine what action is warranted,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.

Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport