KC firefighter accused of doxxing influencer over paramedic stabbing | Opinion
Mario Glynn is a local digital creator known online as Sleep the Mogul. The Kansas City former podcaster and social media influencer said he was doxxed on Facebook by a city firefighter after Glynn took to the social media app to defend murder suspect Shanetta Bossell, the Northland woman accused of fatally stabbing firefighter paramedic Graham Hoffman.
Glynn filed a formal complaint with the city’s ethics hotline because he said the firefighter’s alleged actions put a clear target on his back. He wants him fired. An investigation is under way, according to Kansas City Fire Department.
Days after Bossell allegedly stabbed Hoffman in the heart, Glynn defended Bossell in a since-deleted Facebook post. In the comment section, an account Glynn believes to belong to a firefighter employed by KCFD listed Glynn’s name, address and place of employment. These are actions unbecoming of anyone drawing a paycheck with taxpayers’ money.
But, if true, I wouldn’t hold my breath on the fireman losing his job. Because of union protection, firefighters in this town can drive erratically, kill three people and plead guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter and still stay on the city’s payroll.
A more sensible response would be for interim Fire Chief Ross Grundyson and Mayor Quinton Lucas to publicly denounce this abhorrent act and pledge to conduct a swift and thorough investigation. If the firefighter is found to have disclosed the personal information of a private citizen, then he should face the appropriate consequences.
Screenshots Glynn sent to me back his claim that the Facebook account holder willfully and recklessly shared his identifying information in response to the post.
I reached out to the fireman in question via direct message on Facebook but hadn’t heard back. When I tried to send a follow-up request, the profile appeared to be deleted.
When reached Tuesday for comment, Lucas’ office deferred to a statement emailed to me from Mike Hopkins, a battalion chief for the fire department. Hopkins confirmed that the firefighter in question is employed by the Kansas City Fire Department.
I am not naming him in this column because the fire department hasn’t confirmed the firefighter’s involvement with the incident.
In an earlier email sent Tuesday, Hopkins said the department was unaware of the firefighter’s alleged online behavior until my inquiry.
“KCFD was not aware of this until this email,” Hopkins wrote. “However, this is a matter that KCFD takes very seriously and will be looking into the matter.”
A day later Hopkins said an investigation was underway.
“The Kansas City Fire Department takes these matters and allegations against any of our employees seriously and has begun the investigation process,” Hopkins wrote Wednesday.
Facebook post defends Shanetta Bossell
Before he was doxxed, Glynn took to Facebook to defend Bossell, who is charged in Hoffman’s death with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. Bossell allegedly bit a Kansas City police officer after she allegedly stabbed Hoffman on April 27.
In the post, Glynn wrote: “I know her and I know she ain’t stab this dude for nothing, she was 100% sure she was in danger.”
The vitriol aimed at Glynn since has been unrelenting, he said. Because of the onslaught of negative comments and unnerving messages he received, Glynn said he took down the post. Before he did, the account from the alleged Kansas City firefighter publicly identified him.
“Bet you won’t tell everyone your real name lol too scared to be put on blast,” the fireman wrote followed by six laughing with tears emojis.
In a second comment, the fireman added Glynn’s address and place of employment.
“Never mind other people found you,” he wrote.
If other people did release Glynn’s personal information, as the screenshot claims, then that is unfortunate. But for a city employee to do the same is unconscionable. We all have a constitutional right to free speech. We should be able to exercise that right without fear of retaliation.
“After I made that post, firemen and firewomen jumped in my inbox” with negative comments, Glynn said. “And I had a cop from Alabama call me the N-word.”
Since the firefighter’s comment, Glynn said he has seen strange activity outside his Kansas City residence.
“Two hours later I noticed more activity than usual,” he said. “Someone drove by, pointed at me and flipped me off. People have just been trolling me. It went really hard that first day.”
Mayor’s selective outrage disappoints
In a pair of Facebook posts, Glynn tagged Lucas and Grundyson to alert them about the firefighter’s action. In one of them, Glynn asks Lucas and Grundyson “is giving out a citizen’s address in an attempt to get him and his family harmed acceptable?”
The short answer is, no it is never OK for a city employee to doxx anyone.
Remember the furor that erupted from City Hall when a staffer merely wrote on the city’s X account that Harrison Butker lived in Lee’s Summit after the Chiefs placekicker’s controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College? The post didn’t specify Butker’s address, or even his neighborhood.
That staffer was fired and Lucas apologized to the player. To the best of my knowledge, no one showed up at Butker’s home and harassed him.
In this case, we have an actual city resident claiming with credible evidence that a firefighter released his personal info and Lucas sidesteps the issue by deferring comment to the fire department’s public information officer. That is not being a good leader. To me, Lucas’ selective outrage should not be ignored.
Glynn said the last week or so since his post has been stressful. He would like the city to issue a public apology and for the firefighter to lose his job.
“Doxxing by a city employee is wrong,” Glynn said. “He needs to be fired. That’s unacceptable.”
How could any of us argue with this Kansas City man’s viewpoint?
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 5:08 AM.
