Tolland Fire Chief Denounces Former Member's 'Inflammatory Post'

TOLLAND, CT — Tolland officials on Monday were disassociating themselves with what was termed a set of "inflammatory opinions" recently posted on the personal Facebook page of a former Tolland Fire Department member.

The post referred to the weekend protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

Tolland Fire Chief John Littell denounced the post in a statement released Monday afternoon. He would not identify the former department member in a phone interview and said he believed the post — and the entire account — had been deleted.

"I can assure you that Tolland Fire Department does not agree with the opinions, words or other disparaging statements that were posted," the statement read. The individual is a former member. The author has been requested to remove the implied association with Tolland Fire Department. I apologize to all who read the offensive words and were misled into thinking the author is still associated with the Tolland Fire Department."

Littell said he took offense to "certain words" in the post that "triggered anger."