Bob Brooks: Volunteer Firefighters are “Shitbags” and “Scabs”

PA-07 Dem nominee Bob Brooks thinks that union firefighters who also work as volunteer firefighters in their free time are “scab[s]” and “shitbags“.

Brooks, who is the president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, made these disparaging comments just 2 months ago.

Is he going to apologize for calling more than 30,000 volunteer firefighters in Pennsylvania “scabs” and “shitbags”?

Read more below.

‘This Guy Is Speaking Poorly of Good People’: Democratic House Candidate Bob Brooks Berated Volunteer Firefighters as ‘Shitbags’ and ‘Scabs’ Despite Serious Fireman Shortage

By Chuck Ross

Washington Free Beacon

June 15, 2026

Democrat Bob Brooks, a longtime firefighters’ union official running for Congress in a toss-up Pennsylvania district, berated union firefighters who also work as volunteer firefighters in their free time as “scab[s]” and “shitbags” in angry social media postings.

His hostility to volunteer firefighters comes as many Pennsylvania communities depend on volunteers either because they can’t afford unionized firefighters or because of a chronic firefighter shortage.

Brooks, who is running neck and neck against Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R.), made his withering remarks about volunteer firefighters on Facebook in April. Brooks is president of the 6,000-member Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association and, like his union, vehemently opposes “two hatters,” professional firefighters who volunteer in their free time.

“Just for the record! If you are an IAFF [International Association of Firefighters] member and you volunteer in an area that responds to where other IAFF members work… YOU ARE A SCAB and should be treated as such,” wrote Brooks, who has made his Facebook profile private since posting the screed.

“I am so tired of you two hatter shitbags. If your [sic] offended, please delete me,” added Brooks, who worked as a firefighter in Bethlehem, Pa., for 20 years and served in “every post in his union” during that time. In 2024, his last full year as a firefighter, Brooks earned $53,000 from the union and $77,000 from the city of Bethlehem, according to his financial disclosures.

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Read the full article here.

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