Black New York Firefighter Threatened With Racist Letter, Two Days Later his Home Goes Up In Flames

 

After receiving a racist note demanding that he leave his job, the home of a North Tonawanda, New York volunteer firefighter caught fire Wednesday, Aug. 3.

According to Firehouse.com, Kenneth Walker received a note in his mailbox Monday instructing him to resign his unpaid position by the end of the week. Walker suspects that the letter and the fire are connected.

Here is the letter Walker received:

2016-08-04_1016-min

Screenshot of the note

All tenants in the building managed to get to safety, Firehouse.com reports.

Now, there is a full investigation underway.

“The fire is under investigation. That’s all I can say,” North Tonawanda Fire Chief Joseph Sikora says. “We called in the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control for a couple more investigators to make sure we cover everything,”

Independent journalism doesn't fund itself.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top