Parents of Trayvon Martin who was fatally shot by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in Florida, mother Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin hold hands as they watch a news conference with special prosecutor Angela Corey in Sanford, Fla., announcing charges against George Zimmerman April 11, 2012 in Washington, DC.. (Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images) 
 
 The Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue Department is investigating a Facebook post by one of its captains that seems to blame the shooting death of Trayvon Martin on the "shi*tbag parents" of "our urban youth," and the "ghetto hoodie look" of young black men like Martin. 
 
 The entry was posted on the personal Facebook page of Miami-Dade fire captain Brian Beckmann. The Facebook page bears the same profile picture as the entry, which appears to have been deleted, but which was captured in a screengrab sent to theGrio. 
 
 The page's profile entry lists Metro-Dade Firefighters Local 1403. 
 
 The entry appears to have been created on Wednesday, the night State Attorney Angela Corey announced she would file second degree murder charges against George Zimmerman over Martin's shooting death. 
 
 "Listening to Prosecutor Corey blow herself and her staff for five minutes before pre-passing judgment on George Zimmerman," it read. 
 
 "The state seeks reelection again, truth aside. I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, sh*tbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents, but like Mrs. Corey, we speak only the truth. They're just misunderstood little church going angels and the ghetto hoodie look doesn't have anything to do with why people wonder if they're about to get jacked by a thug." 
 
 Beckmann responded to questions about the page in a Facebook message, saying, "I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I choose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employer chose to do." 
 
 He offered to contact theGrio when he was "off duty" for further comment. 
 
 The source who provided theGrio with the Facebook entry expressed concern that the comments reflected "the thoughts of someone who responds to the homes of the very people" being denigrated in the post. 
 
 A Miami-Dade Fire Department spokesman issued the following statement: 
 
 Captain Brian Beckmann has been with Miami-Dade county since 1997. The post on his personal Facebook page is being investigated by Miami-Dade fire rescue. The department's only official Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/MiamiDadeFireRescue. 
 
 Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport 

 NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. - 
 
 A Miami-Dade County firefighter is under investigation by his department for a controversial posting he reportedly made on his personal Facebook page about the Trayvon Martin case. 
 
 Captain Brian Beckmann wrote the comment last Wednesday, the day prosecutors decided to charge George Zimmerman with second-degree murder, according to Grio.com, which reportedly obtained a copy of the posting. 
 
 "I and my co workers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, s***bag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents," read the post. 
 
 POLL: Offensive or freedom of speech? 
 
 Beckmann was being critical of the special prosecutor, implying she decided to charge Zimmerman to get reelected. 
 
 He declined to comment to Local 10, but reportedly responded to the Grio.com reporter, saying, "I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I chose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employers chose to do so." 
 
 His controversial remark has spread like wildfire within the department. Several firefighters tell Local 10 off camera they aren't happy Beckmann included them in his rant and they question his judgment for making his personal feelings public. 
 
 For its part, the department released a statement, saying, "Captain Brian Beckmann has been with Miami-Dade County since 1997. The post on his personal Facebook page is being investigated by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue." 
 
 A spokeswoman said the department's top brass will take up the issue on Monday. 

 Getty Images 
 
 A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue official is under investigation for a personal Facebook post that claims "failed, shitbag, ignorant parents" are to blame in cases like the shooting death of unarmed Miami teen Trayvon Martin. 
 
 Captain Brian Beckmann has since deleted the post, but a screencap was published on TheGrio.com when its source expressed concern at "the thoughts of someone who responds to the homes of the very people" disparaged on Beckmann's Facebook page, which cites Metro-Dade Firefighters Local 1403. 
 
 The post was reportedly published last Wednesday, the same night special prosecutor Angela Corey announced second degree murder charges against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who shot Martin as he walked through his father's gated community in Sanford wearing a hoodie. Wrote Beckmann: 
 
 "Listening to Prosecutor Corey blow herself and her staff for five minutes before pre-passing judgment on George Zimmerman. The state seeks reelection again, truth aside. I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, shitbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents, but like Mrs. Corey, we speak only the truth. They're just misunderstood little church going angels and the ghetto hoodie look doesn't have anything to do with why people wonder if they're about to get jacked by a thug." 
 
 TheGrio reports Beckmann responded to questions in a Facebook message with, "I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I choose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employer chose to do." 
 
 But Beckmann's employer isn't happy. In a statement, Miami-Dade Fire said, "Captain Brian Beckmann has been with Miami-Dade County since 1997. The post on his personal Facebook page is being investigated by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue." 
 
 Several of Beckmann's colleagues aren't happy either, telling Local10 off-camera they were displeased Beckmann lumped them into his public feelings on the case. Reached by the Miami Herald on Sunday, he told a reporter, "It’s under investigation. I can’t talk to you." 
 
 Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, is a "well-respected" program coordinator at the Miami-Dade Housing Authority, where she has worked for 23 years, according to the Miami Herald. His father Tracy Martin is a truck driver. 
 
 UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: WSVN reports that at least one person showed up to Miami-Dade Fire headquarters to demand Beckmann be fired: "He has to be fired now," said former county employee Walter Clark. "This public servant has no place in rescuing black people. His attitude is beyond anything that I can imagine for a public servant, to be putting it in writing." 
 
 Meanwhile, an outpouring of displeasure with Beckmann's comments is on display in comments on the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Facebook page. 
 
 "Way to go Beckman," reads one example. "Can people like YOU be trusted to equally protect the citizens who pay your salary?? You are...a very poor reflection on the Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue. Sad." 
 
 Yet another: "Enjoy your new career as a private fire fighter in the free market, unencumbered from the responsibility of government-funded employment nor mature representation of your city and staff." 
 
 "While Capt. Beckmann should be able to practice his 1st Amendment protections," wrote another Facebooker, "being that he is a 'leader' in the MDFR organization I seriously question his judgment and ability to make good sound decisions, especially where the community he supposedly protects is concerned." 
 
 View images from an April 1 'Rally for Justice' in Miami: 

 Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting. 
 
 No, he's entitled to his opinion Yes, as a public safety official he should have kept his private opinion to himself I'm not sure 
 
 Should Miami-Dade fire Capt. Brian Beckmann be reprimanded for his Facebook rant even though he's a private citizen? 
 
 A Miami-Dade firefighter’s rant about the Trayvon Martin case — posted on his personal Facebook page — is drawing scrutiny from his bosses. 
 
 Capt. Brian Beckmann’s post, published for the public Friday by the website theGrio.com, lambasts the prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case and suggests “urban youth” are the products of “failed, sh*tbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents.” 
 
 Someone with access to Beckmann’s Facebook page sent a screen shot of his posting to the website which is geared toward African-American issues. 
 
 The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told Joy-Ann Reid, managing editor of theGrio and a Miami Herald contributing columnist, it was investigating the captain’s online posting. 
 
 Beckmann, told the website in a Facebook message: “I am a private citizen and have the same right to freely express an opinion on any subject that anyone else does. I choose not to embellish or alter the facts as your employer chose to do.” 
 
 Reached by a reporter Sunday, Beckmann said: “It’s under investigation. I can’t talk to you.” 
 
 The investigation and racially-charged entry on the private Facebook page is an example of how employers both private and public struggle to balance free speech and conduct that may reflect poorly on an employee. 
 
 Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, called this kind of incident “one of the great challenges of the digital age.” 
 
 “Organizations often want all the advantages of social media to promote themselves and their missions, but struggle to figure out the boundaries for their employees. The law sometimes is not at all clear about where the border between free speech and organizational rule-making can be drawn.” 
 
 He added: “At the individual level, people are in a brand new world where they have to think about – and manage – a variety of ‘publics.’ In social media it is pretty easy for people to believe that some social media postings are more or less private, when it fact it just takes a few clicks for them to become very public acts with a big audience. It’s unprecedented. It’s unnerving. And it requires a new set of social skills to manage properly.” 
 
 Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 killing of Trayvon, an unarmed Miami Gardens teen who was in Sanford visiting his father’s girlfriend. 
 
 A neighborhood watch volunteer with a penchant for calling police to relate suspicious happenings, Zimmerman called 911 that night to report Trayvon, who had gone to a convenience store to buy candy. A scuffle ensured and the Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon. 
 
 Zimmerman claimed self-defense and Sanford police pointed to Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in not arresting the man. The shooting has sparked dozens of racially charged rallies across the nation and sparked worldwide attention on Florida’s self-defense law. 
 
 Beckmann, a Miami-Dade employee since 1997, posted the rant on Wednesday, the night special prosecutor Angela Corey announced Zimmerman had been charged. 
 
 “Listening to Prosecutor Corey blow herself and her staff for five minutes before pre-passing judgment on George Zimmerman,” the post read. 
 
 “The state seeks reelection again, truth aside. I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, sh*tbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents, but like Mrs. Corey, we speak only the truth. 
 
 “They're just misunderstood little church going angels and the ghetto hoodie look doesn't have anything to do with why people wonder if they're about to get jacked by a thug,” the posting reads.
– A Miami-Dade fire captain weighed in on the Trayvon Martin shooting last week with a withering Facebook message—apparently aimed at Martin's parents, Huffington Post reports. "Listening to Prosecutor Corey blow herself and her staff for five minutes before pre-passing judgment on George Zimmerman," wrote Captain Brian Beckmann. "I and my coworkers could rewrite the book on whether our urban youths are victims of racist profiling or products of their failed, shitbag, ignorant, pathetic, welfare dependent excuses for parents, but like Mrs. Corey, we speak only the truth." The post has kindly been pulled (screenshot here), but Miami-Dade Fire Rescue says it's investigating. And a few of Beckmann's colleagues have told Local10 they're not happy that he claimed to speak for them. What's more, the Miami Herald reports that Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, is considered a "well-respected" coordinator for an inner city housing program. As for Beckmann, he's choosing to keep mum for now: "It's under investigation," he told a Miami Herald reporter. "I can't talk to you." (For another take on the shooting, Bill Cosby blames guns, not racism.)