GUESS WHO GOT FIRED OVER THE CROSSGATES MALL INCIDENT:
The security officer at Crossgates Mall who signed a trespassing complaint against a war protester was fired Friday.
Robert Williams said he was called into the mall security office about four hours into his shift and told he was fired because of Monday’s incident and for signing the complaint against Steve Downs, 60, of Selkirk.
Downs’ arrest brought Crossgates national notoriety and sparked a protest march against the facility’s policies. He was arrested for trespassing when mall officials told him to leave or remove an anti-war T-shirt he had purchased there.
Williams, who has worked in security at the mall for more than nine years, said he signed the complaint on the orders of his boss, assistant director of security Fred Tallman. Those orders came after Tallman told the Guilderland police officer working the case that he (Tallman) was too busy to come to the police station and that Williams represented the company and should sign.
“I just followed directions of management of that mall to the letter,” Williams said Friday evening. “And I get fired for doing my job.”
I don’t think this makes Crossgates Mall look any better.