She was used to being isolated. She was one of only a few women in a fire department of about 100 employees, and even though she tried to fit in by sleeping at the firehouse two nights each week — even though she had won E.M.T. of the Year, passed all the fitness tests, registered as a Republican, collected guns and voted for Trump in 2016 — she was always defined by the ways she stood apart. A vegetarian. A bisexual. A single woman with dyed pink hair and facial piercings among a sea of mostly white, Christian, conservative men.
It’s not about “giving into terrorists,” it’s about losing community trust when you work in a position of trust.
If Bernie or AOC were brutally murdered and it was caught on video and a firefighter or EMT posted something that callous immediately afterward, that would inspire questions in the community about whether or not that person would feel the same way if they knew the politics of someone calling emergency services. It’s a breach of professionalism in a position that requires community trust.
If you want to broadcast controversial, callous opinions when you work in a position like that, do it somewhere not tied to your name.