FDNY That Cheered Trump & Booed Letitia James Threatened With Retribution

Does this sound like a threat to you?

Last week, we reported a hilarious incident where Letitia James was loudly heckled at an FDNY ceremony, followed by cheers of ‘Trump, Trump, Trump’.

Considering the reputation New York has of being a Dem stronghold, that was pretty newsworthy — especially after the ridiculous court case that will almost certainly be struck down at some point.

We covered the original incident here.

Since then, there have been further developments. There’s been a backlash against the rank-and-file from the brass.

A memo sent out to all New York fire halls called the conduct ‘grossly inappropriate’ and instructed them all to leave their politics at home.

(One wonders if the brass has similar objections to political expressions in support of rainbow flags and BLM.)

“When you’re not on duty, feel however you want about politicians,” the document said. “Vote. Protest. That’s your right. But don’t do it on the job’s time, on other members’ time, or on their families’ time. Do it on your own time.”

The memo also reinforced that the department’s Bureau of Investigations and Trials was going after the offenders — echoing an email by Chief of Department John Hodges on Saturday.

Firefighters “should understand that BITS is gathering video and identifying members that brought discredit … to the department,” the Sunday memo said. “We want the members to come forward. They will come to HQ to be educated [on] why their behavior is unacceptable.”

The memo also said the department’s reputation with the ceremony’s host has also been damaged, and added that “we may lose that venue now.” — NYPost

Couple of points here, in no particular order:

Right off the top: If a church denies the NYFD further use of their facilities simply because a few members cheered for Trump, that church deserves to have its charitable status revoked.

Second: it was an awards ceremony. It’s extremely unlikely any of them were on company. If you are on your own time, you are acting in the capacity of a private citizen and enjoy all the freedoms of any other private citizen. If the brass don’t like it, that’s their problem.

Third: ‘Discredit…to the department’. Bringing in an incendiary figure like Letitia James as emcee hard on the heels of an extremely controversial court case involving a presidential candidate is what discredits a department — NOT the public reacting to her presence with contempt.

Fourth: “Offenders” and “gathering Video” — You might want to think this next step through, before you land yourself in hot water, chief. There are plenty of Constitutional rights litigators who would love nothing better than to hang you out to dry over this one.

Finally: “They will come forward to HQ to be educated.” How nice. Our overlords aren’t even hiding their intentions of reeducation anymore.

Viva puts a nice bow on this story with the following observation/analysis:

“Nobody is hunting anyone down," FDNY spokesman Jim Long told Fox News Digital.

Also:

“We’re looking into those who clearly broke department regulations.”

And

They “will figure out who those members are."

And

"I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the… pic.twitter.com/vxV47R68oa

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) March 10, 2024