Alabama fan fired after tweeting he was ‘glad’ receiver struck female Tennessee fan

Kele Inc., a building products supply company in Memphis, Tenn., has apparently fired an employee for condoning Alabama receiver Jermaine Burton striking a female Tennessee fan on the field Saturday after Tennessee’s 52-49 win over Alabama at Neyland Stadium.

“I am glad he did it,” the employee said on Twitter Tuesday in reference to Burton’s alleged swat of the female fan. “Should have knocked her head off. Not supposed to be on the field anyway.”‘

@KeleSolutions, the Twitter handle of Kele Inc., responded Wednesday afternoon, saying, “Kele does not stand for or tolerate offensive or hateful comments toward any group or individual. We take this issue very seriously, and as a result, Kele and this employee have parted ways.”

OutKick contacted Kele Inc. Wednesday twice and was directed to its human resources and to marketing departments. Neither department confirmed that Kele Inc. had fired someone for a tweet condoning Burton’s behavior after the game.

A person identified as a Kele Inc. employee tweeted the comment below Tuesday in reference to Burton’s action.

Kele Inc. did not confirm or deny it had employed a Steve Lemmons.

OutKick founder Clay Travis tweeted about the Burton incident Tuesday night.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban said Wednesday night any decisions regarding Burton would be handled in house.

“We handle discipline issues internally, and that’s the way we’ll handle this,” Saban said at his Wednesday night press conference. “Respect other people. That’s on us to do that, and that’s certainly a lesson for all of us to learn relative to this.”

Alabama’s sports information department released a statement from Saban Wednesday morning after it first learned of the incident via OutKick’s Trey Wallace, who broke the story Tuesday night.

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“We are aware of the situation with Jeremaine Burton as he was exiting the field Saturday,” Saban said in the release. “We are currently working together to gather more information.”

Saban was asked about the incident on the weekly SEC coaches’ teleconference later Wednesday morning

“I think it’s a difficult situation for the league,” Saban said when asked about crowd control. The field has been stormed the last six times Alabama has lost on the road.

“I think it’s a difficult situation for all of us that are in the situation,” Saban said. “We certainly don’t condone any mistreatment of anybody whether they should or shouldn’t be there. I think you have to have respect for other people. But, at the same time, it’s a difficult situation for all of us.”