SHARE THIS ACTION ALERT
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Update: Just one day after this campaign was launched, Eatonville Mayor Eddie Cole announced the town was reversing its decision and awarding Cpl. Omar Delgado a pension! Thanks to everyone who contacted Mayor Cole and urged him to take this step. The Delgado family has something to be happy about this 2017 holiday season.
One of the first officers to respond to the mass shooting at The Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Cpl. Omar Delgado, is being fired by the Eatonville Police Department just six months before he can vest in the pension system.
Delgado was credited with saving the life of Pulse survivor Angel Colon, who was injured in the shooting. Delgado spent hours inside The Pulse that night while the shooter held hostages in the bathroom.
Delgado returned to patrol duty a few months after the shooting, but was suffering from depression and PTSD and could not continue. For the past eight months, he has worked a desk job at the department. He believes he might have been fired because a doctor determined he was unfit to return to full duty because of his PTSD.
Cpl. Delgado has worked for the Eatonville Police Department for 9 ½ years. An additional six months of employment would allow him to become vested in the pension system and collect 64% of his current salary ($38,500) with benefits for life. As it stands now, he will only receive 42% percent of his salary (beginning at age 55).
At a town council meeting on December 5, 2017, Eatonville Mayor Eddie Cole defended the firing of Delgado. Neither he nor any other town official will give a reason for the dismissal.
Please contact Eatonville Mayor Eddie Cole through one of the channels below and give him the following message:
I recently heard that Cpl. Omar Delgado, a hero who put his life on the line during the mass shooting at The Pulse nightclub, is being fired six months before he can vest in the pension program at 10 years of service. I am absolutely outraged by this news and am calling on you to work with the Eatonville Police Department to reverse this decision immediately. It is nothing short of cruel to treat this officer in this fashion after he responded to one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history and saved lives. Your public defense of this dismissal, and insensitivity to the psychological trauma endured by officers in active shooter situations, is unacceptable. Allow Cpl. Delgado to stay on the Eatonville Police Department until he reaches 10 years of service and is vested. That is the LEAST you can do for this man after the service he has provided to the residents of your community.
Eatonville Mayor Eddie Cole
Phone: (407) 623-8900
Email: ecole@townofeatonville.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Town-of-Eatonville-Florida-367620089981184/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edcolemind
Once you have contacted Mayor Cole, click the orange banner below to report taking action!