New York Firefighters Who Booed Letitia James To Be Sent To HQ To Be Punished, “Educated” About “Unacceptable” Behavior

NOTE: The FDNY has since said there is no investigation of firefighters who booed AG James.

When New York Attorney General Letitia James appeared at a New York Fire Department (FDNY) promotion ceremony to give a speech for FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, her speech was drowned out by booing and chants of “Trump” from the angry firefighters in the crowd. AG James was infuriated by their chants, and it appears that the FDNY leadership was as well, as now those who booed AG James are being ordered to report to headquarters for “education” on their behavior.

Such was revealed by a document posted to X by “End Wokeness,” a conservative political commentator. The document went over why the booing was “inappropriate” and “unacceptable,” then went on to declare that the department is working to identify those who booed AG James. Adding context to the documents, End Wokeness said that they were “Memos and emails from the Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA) & Uniformed Firefighters Association are circulating.”

Beginning, the document provides, “I’m here to address the behavior of firefighters that attended Thursday’s promotion. The behavior we saw and heard was grossly inappropriate.” It continues, “Protesting, heckling, or booing anyone at a ceremony is simply unacceptable.”

It then alleges that the promotion ceremony was non-political (though when AG James was booed she was speaking about “our first African American woman chaplain”), saying, “This was a promotion ceremony to honor members who made sacrifices and worked hard to achieve this day. They had close family and friends there to celebrate with them.”

Continuing, the document argues, “Absolutely no one should have been subjected to what happened based on the political beliefs of some members. It was disrespectful to the speakers, to the promoted members and their families.”

Returning to the claim about the AG’s speech not being political, the document says, “This was not a political event and Letitia James was not there to give a political speech. She was there to support her friend and our new chaplain Pamela Holmes. Pamela invited her friend to attend the ceremony. Members have a right to political beliefs. But you don’t have a right to make a job related ceremony political in nature. When you’re not on duty, feel however you want about politicians. 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.”

Continuing, the document added, “Our actions at the promotion damaged the relationship with the attorney general and the Christian Cultural Center. We may lose that venue now. Politics aside, the attorney general is a friend to the UFA and UFOA and a supporter of our Department. She has come to the hospital on more than one occasion to support us when one of our members is seriously injured or died. These actions reflected very poorly upon us and diminished the dignity of the occasion. Instead of news reports talking about the accomplishments of our members, it talked about the politics and our poor behavior.”

Then, like a scolding teacher chastising a middle school classroom, the document said, “Everyone must be better. Do the right thing. Even if you aren’t the one acting poorly, if you see a fellow firefighter act in this manner, STOP IT. Act in a manner befitting of the uniform that you wear. Nothing less should be tolerated.”That’s when it got to the “education” part, saying, “Next steps: Have DC visit each firehouse that had a member promoted. Relay bullet point message. They should understand that BITS is gathering video and identifying members that brought discredit and to the Department. We want the members to come forward. They will come to HQ to be educated why their behavior is unacceptable.”

DC Draino, in his characterization of the document, said, “After NY Firefighters exercised their 1st Amdt right to protest corrupt city leaders, a letter was sent saying anyone who booed Letitia James will be sent to HQ for re-“education”. NYC has become a Marxist hellhole where politics are prosecuted & anyone objecting gets in trouble.”

A second document shared by End Wokeness said, in part, “BITS is investigating this so they will figure out who the members are. I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the Commissioner It will be better for them if they come forward and we don’t have to hunt them down. The DC’s shall direct the Captain of the Company to make a list of those that come forward and send it directly to John and Kevin in Operations. I realize members might not come forward but they should know that there is clear video of the entire incident and they will be contacted by BITS if they don’t.”