COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A fire station has reopened in South Carolina’s capital, days after its then-captain posted on Facebook he would run over protesters if they still blocked traffic when his shift ended.
Columbia Fire Department spokesman Brick Lewis says the station reopened Wednesday night after firefighters said they felt safe going back.
Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins closed the station at 1 a.m. Monday. Security procedures were heightened at 31 others stations for that shift.
Jenkins fired the captain and two others this week for their Facebook posts about Black Lives Matter protesters who closed a Columbia intersection and an interstate section late Sunday. More than 400 firefighters work in the department.
Protests came after black men were killed by police in Minnesota and Louisiana and white officers were gunned down in Dallas.