Firefighter Refuses to Perform Duties Based on Political Disagreement

On January 8^th, 2011, while fellow firefighters and emergency responders were rushing to the scene of a deadly shooting rampage outside of a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona, veteran firefighter Mark Ekstrum is reported to have refused to respond with fellow members of his team because of differing political views.

The shooting rampage eventually garnered national media attention as a catalyst to the cooling of heated political rhetoric that was quickly overtaking the national stage. The gunman, 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner, was arrested at the scene after fatally shooting six people and wounding 13 others. U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was among the wounded and is believed to have been the gunman's sole target. She was shot at point blank range, through the head, and miraculously survived. Rep. Giffords was hosting a "Congress on Your Corner" event and meeting with constituents in the area.

Even though Mark Ekstrum's fire crew was not the first to be dispatched to the incident, and in fact was dispatched as part of an assistance effort approximately 90 minutes after the shooting, an official memorandum to Ekstrum from his supervisor addresses the fact that his refusal to respond to the scene was enough to cause "confusion and delay" to the response efforts of other firefighters. In order to find a replacement for him, members of Ekstrum's team were forced to visit another fire house on the way to the scene of the shooting.

According to reports filed by his supervisors, Ekstrum originally mentioned that he did not want to be a part of the call because of "political bantering" that was taking place around the fire house. When told by superiors that disagreements of a political nature were not a valid reason to refuse to respond to an emergency, Ekstrum informed his supervisor that he was feeling ill and his team was sent to the incident without him. Two days following his refusal to fulfill his oath bound duties, Ekstrum retired, before his supervisors could officially discipline him.

According to a statement given by Ekstrum to the Tucson Fire Department, the 28 year firefighting veteran claimed that he was distraught by the incident and "distracted to the point of not being able to perform...routine station duties". Ekstrum goes on to claim that he "seriously doubted" his ability to focus at the scene of the emergency, even though, by the time he was dispatched, his crew was responding as a support element delivering emergency supplies like tents, water, cots, and other medical items to tend to those not seriously injured.

Interestingly, Ekstrum made a point to mention in his statement to the Tucson Fire Department that he had no personal problem with Rep. Giffords and went so far as to admit voting for her in the last election.

Sources:

Associated Press. Firefighter Refused Call to Giffords Shooting. USA Today. February 18, 2011.