By Dana Rieck
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — An EMT worker was put on leave Friday after screenshots circulated of a Facebook post he made about the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.
The St. Louis Fire Department employee posted “Happy ALIVE day to Darren Wilson ! #10years #WGY6” on Friday morning, according to the screenshot shared online by a local grassroots news organization.
The first hashtag refers to the 10th anniversary of Brown’s killing. The second appears to be an acronym of the police and military phrase “We’ve got your six,” which is a way of saying they’re watching someone’s back.
The screenshot of the post showed about 54 people had liked it within two hours of its posting, and the post was set to public — meaning anyone could view it. However the EMT’s profile and post did not appear to be publicly viewable on Saturday morning.
Wilson is the former Ferguson police officer who shot and killed Brown 10 years ago on Friday. A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict him in November 2014, and the U.S. Department of Justice did the same in March 2015 after an investigation that found there were no credible witnesses to support a prosecution.
Brown’s death fueled massive protests here and across the nation, galvanizing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Fire department officials on Friday afternoon said on Facebook that once they were made aware of the post, they put the employee on administrative leave pending an investigation.
“Our department’s mission mandates that we treat our community with respect, dignity, and professionalism at all times,” the post said. “We expect every member to uphold these standards.”
St. Louis Fire Capt. Garon Mosby said on Saturday that the employee’s leave is unpaid, but employees are allowed to use their accrued paid time off while on leave.
The EMT employee has worked for the city since May 2006 , according to the Post-Dispatch’s salary database. He made just under $71,000 in 2022.
He’s at least the second department employee in recent years to come under public scrutiny.
Former St. Louis firefighter Arnold Britt, 40, was charged in May 2023 with stealing a wallet from a crash survivor while responding to a fatal hit-and-run collision at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue.
Britt pleaded guilty last month to charges of receiving stolen property, a Class D felony, and fraudulent use of a credit card, a Class A misdemeanor. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 6 and is no longer employed by the department.
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