‘I Can’t Wait To Fire This Ni—er’: Utah City Officials Targeted Black Fire Captain After Verbal Dispute with White Man Who Approached Him with Gun, Lawsuit Alleges

A Black fire captain in southern Utah has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that his co-workers harassed him with racial slurs and that his supervisors and local officials conspired to undermine his bid to become fire chief and then fired him out of racism and in retaliation for his speaking out about cronyism in their hiring process. In July 2021, Corey Turner started working for the Cedar Mountain Service District, which provides fire and emergency services on public and private land. He was quickly promoted from a part-time to a full-time firefighter and then to the rank of captain, all within six months. According to his complaint, then-chief Chris Rieffer, who was hired in 2019, and his successor, Adam Scott, both gave Turner good performance reviews. But Turner says his upward career trajectory was halted due to repercussions from a traffic incident with a former fire department employee who had friends in high places in county government. Cedar Mountain Fire Protection District firefighters. (Facebook/Cedar Mountain Fire Protection District) In his lawsuit, Turner describes a road rage encounter with Patrick Mahler, who was driving in front of him and slamming on his brakes, then exited his vehicle and brandished...