Remember the firefighter who was charged for spitting on a Black toddler and using the N-word? — Well, he just got his job back!
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Terrence Jeremy Skeen, a firefighter who spat and used a racial slur on a 3-year-old Black boy, has reportedly got his job back after his lawyers claim that he was “suspended incorrectly.”
Skeen, a 42-year-old who has worked at Kansas City Fire Department for 15 years, has still been charged with battery, disorderly conduct, and assault in connection with the incident on Feb. 26, 2017 at a Hooters Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas.
The firefighter was accused of threatening to shoot a Black customer, throwing the N-word, and spitting on his three-year-old grandson.
The boy’s grandfather, Raymond L. Harris, said that the boy became separated from their family when another customer told them that a man spat on the boy.
“You need to get that f—ing girl and take her back to the other side where you came from,” Skeen allegedly shouted at Harris from across the restaurant.
After correcting Skeen about the child’s gender and he asked him if he really did spit on the boy.
“F— you, you n—r,” Skeen reportedly told him. “I will spit on you. F— you! I will shoot you!”
The manager then called the police but instead ended up throwing the Black family out of the restaurant.
The boy’s great-uncle, Michael Mitchell stayed a while to pay the bills, but he said the rest of their family left in fear “without even pausing to grab their untouched birthday cake, despite having done nothing wrong.”
A hearing is scheduled on May 9. Skeen’s lawyer said that he will plead not guilty.
Moreover, a spokesperson of the Kansas City said in a statement, “Skeen is currently working on desk duty, in a non-public and non-safety sensitive role. This is a result of internal due process and contractual agreements with IAFF Local 42. This also allows time for due process until his trial on the charges resulting from the incident in Overland Park while he was off-duty.”
