SPOKANE VALLEY — Commissioners of the Spokane Valley Fire Department have voted unanimously to suspend a firefighter for using his department account to send religious emails to fellow firefighters after being ordered to stop.
Capt. Jon Sprague said he plans to continue sending the emails, arguing that orders to stop violate his First Amendment protections. He was suspended Monday without pay for two 24-hour shifts.
The Spokesman-Review reported Sprague has been sending emails about the Spokane County Christian Firefighter Fellowship he founded since 2010.
Commissioner Kolby Hanson said the problem is not the religious nature of the emails, but that Sprague continued to send them after he was ordered by superiors to stop.
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