Man charged with arson for torching home of black Upstate N.Y. firefighter was neighbor [View all]

[BeyondGeography]

The lone black firefighter of an upstate New York town whose home burned to the ground just two days after receiving a racist letter was shocked to learn that man arrested for the act of arson was a neighbor and former firefighter.

Matthew Jurado, 39, admitted to police that he torched Kenneth Walker’s North Tonawanda home in retaliation for getting removed from his job as a volunteer firefighter. He did not claim responsibility for the hate-filled letter, but claims “he knows who wrote it.”

Police told WGRZ that Jurado “didn’t want to tell us who that person was," that wrote the nasty note.

Jurado had been recently let go from the Live Hose Co. No. 4 volunteer fire department because he was not properly trained, Buffalo News reported. The suspected arsonist told police that he set fire to Walker's home in retaliation for losing his job. Walker and Jurado had trained together but worked at two different departments in North Tonawanda, just north of Buffalo...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-charged-torching-black-upstate-n-y-firefighter-home-article-1.2739665

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the Walker family and is nearing its $100K goal after one day. You can donate here:

https://www.gofundme.com/2hunioc