An emergency rescue squad in Southwest Virginia has fired an EMT accused of making racist remarks while co-hosting a white nationalist podcast.
JEB Stuart Rescue Squad voted unanimously Tuesday to fire emergency medical technician Alex McNabb months after a HuffPost report publicized comments from his “Daily Shoah” podcast, in which he referred to Black patients using racial slurs, likened them to gorillas, and claimed to have taken great pleasure in “terrorizing” a young Black child with a needle.
Alex McNabb, 35, used his podcast to make disparaging remarks about Black patients, whom he routinely compared to animals. (Image courtesy of Statter 911)
“During executive sessions, the pros and cons of Mr. McNabb’s continued relationship with the squad were discussed,” Wren Williams, a lawyer representing the rescue squad, said in a statement from the Patrick County board. “A legal opinion from outside legal counsel was shared among the board members and the board members shared their personal thoughts.”
Board members stopped just short of stating their reasons for firing McNabb, 35, but made their decision after an executive meeting Sunday, according to CNN. The now-jobless EMT was suspended without pay in December, just days after his comments surfaced.
Amid the backlash, McNabb pointed to his free speech rights and contended his comments were a “work of fiction” and part of an alter ego he used on the podcast called “Dr. Narcan.” Critics disagreed, however, and said McNabb’s bigoted remarks rendered him incapable of administering care to vulnerable minority patients.
The Virginia Department of Health launched a two-month investigation into whether the EMT had discriminated while providing care but found no “substantial evidence to support any violation of the EMS regulations,” shuttering the case last month. Still, Williams said the board thought it was important to get rid of McNabb either way.
“It’s our job to look out for the members of our community, and we never wanted a member of our community to think that they might be mistreated or discriminated against,” he said.
The state began investigating after receiving complaints about McNabb’s racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric on his podcast and online.
According to HuffPost’s Dec. 8 report, “Dr. Narcan” (aka McNabb) repeatedly referred to African-American patients as “dindus,” a slur that combines “didn’t” and “do” to mock Black people who say the system treats them unfairly. He then stooped even lower and compared them to animals.
On another occasion, McNabb commented that “the heat brings out the wild in the dindu,” and added, “as winter approaches, the animals go into hibernation and the ridiculousness of the [911] calls goes down.”
“Dr. Narcan” went on to tell the story of an “unruly” Black male child who needed his blood drawn but wouldn’t sit still. He told his co-hosts: “So, guess who volunteered to take (his) blood? Dr. Narcan enjoyed great, immense satisfaction as he terrorized this youngster with a needle and stabbed him thusly in the arm with a large-gauge IV catheter.”
Patrick County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lock Boyce, who’s been an outspoken critic of McNabb, was pleased with the rescue squad’s decision to fire him.
“That’s an admirable thing for them to do and I’m glad they did it,” Boyce told local station WSLS.
Watch more in the video below.
