10/20/2026
A PUBLIC RETRACTION IS OWED.
Yesterday, individuals and local social-media pages publicly accused the Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association and its members of violating Texas election law.
These were not simply questions or requests for clarification.
Crystal ForReal declared, “This is illegal,” accused us of violating voting rights and encouraged people to report us to the Texas Secretary of State, the Department of Justice and the Attorney General.
Falls Town Table Talk suggested that our association had violated election and ethics laws, characterized our lawful participation as interference with democracy and called for public scrutiny and an investigation.
The Texoma Examiner amplified allegations involving the Wichita Falls Fire Department, taxpayer-funded resources and political campaigning without first determining whether any City resources were involved.
Those were serious, public accusations. They were also false.
Every firefighter participating was OFF DUTY and volunteering personal time.
We were acting on behalf of the Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association and its PAC—not the Wichita Falls Fire Department.
No City time, fire apparatus, equipment, taxpayer money or Fire Department resources were used.
No charitable donations were used. The endorsement signs were purchased with separate PAC funds specifically intended for lawful political activity.
Before bringing out those signs, we located the official 100-foot distance marker placed by the election officials responsible for establishing the boundary. We did not place it. We did not move it. We did not reinterpret it.
We stayed WELL BEYOND it.
The photographs show that clearly. Independent witnesses have confirmed it. People who actually contacted voting authorities reported that the storefront was the applicable entrance at this polling location and that our activity was legal.
Some of the people involved have since edited their posts or quietly changed their language. That is not enough.
The accusations were made publicly. The correction should be made publicly, directly and with comparable visibility.
And this is not primarily about me.
I represent 165 members of the Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association and their families. These are men and women who serve this community, who were participating on their own time and who followed the boundary established by election officials.
When you recklessly accuse this association of criminal conduct, misuse of taxpayer resources or interference with democracy, you are attacking the character and integrity of all 165 members—not simply Al Vitolo.
They deserve better than a quiet edit.
They deserve an unequivocal correction from Crystal ForReal, Falls Town Table Talk, and the Texoma Examiner, and anyone else who published or repeated these allegations without first verifying the facts.
The correction is simple:
Members of the Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association were off duty, used no City resources or charitable donations, located the official distance marker placed by election officials and remained well beyond it. There was no factual basis for accusing them of committing a crime.
You made the allegations publicly.
You demanded answers publicly.
You received the facts publicly.
Now retract the allegations and correct the record just as publicly.
The members of the Wichita Falls Professional Fire Fighters await your retraction.
~~~~Moderaton note since I cant pin the comment ~~~~
I just removed a picture posted by a commentor here. We welcome conversation. But mug shots and things of that nature of a person that hasn't been convicted of a crime is exactly the basis of this post. We can have conversation, we can have talks about our beliefes etc... but accusations such as those that are yet proven or un-proven are not a healthy part of this discussion.
