Support for the only black volunteer firefighter in an upstate New York town continues to pour in after he lost his home to suspected arson within days of receiving a letter containing racial slurs.

A judge on Friday entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the suspect, a former volunteer firefighter.

Kenneth Walker said he received a letter Monday in his mailbox. It demanded he resign from the fire department by the end of the week and that he leave the small town of North Tonawanda. The letter used the N-word several times.
“N****rs are not allowed to be firefighters,” it said. “No one wants you in this city.”

A fire broke out Wednesday afternoon while Walker and his family were away. Two cats in his apartment were killed and almost everything inside was destroyed, said North Tonawanda Fire Chief Joseph Sikora. On Thursday, police arrested Matthew Jurado, 39, who lives across the street from Walker. He was charged with second-degree arson.

Jurado “admitted to us that he started the fire,” said Detective Capt. Thomas Krantz of North Tonawanda police, but the suspect denied writing the threatening letter to Walker.

“At this point, we have a name that he provided us. However, we are still looking at the possibility that it is in fact he who wrote the letter. It could be this other person but that will be determined at a later date.” Krantz said.

Jurado is being held on a $50,000 bail, the clerk said. He was booked Friday morning at the Niagara County Jail, according to Beth Dunn of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office.