Protesting New York Attorney General Letitia James and supporting former President Donald Trump might be putting some of New York's bravest under fire with the New York City Fire Department leadership.
"It was a political stunt for the city to have the AG there," an FDNY retiree told the New York Post. "When it backfired, they sent their fascist pit bulls after guys for exercising their First Amendment rights.
"Most were off-duty and not in FDNY uniform."
An FDNY ceremony last week that featured staffers booing James and cheering Trump has FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh commissioner "hunting" the political dissenters, FDNY Chief of Department John Hodges telling staff via email the FDNY Bureau of Investigation and Trials is getting involved, the Post reported.
"BITS is investigating this, so they will figure out who the members are," Hodges wrote, according to the Post. "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 [deputy chiefs] shall direct the captain of the company to make a list of those who come forward and send it directly to [FDNY 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."
The violation of First Amendment rights in pursuing those exercising free speech is clear, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz.
"Firefighters have an absolute constitutional right to boo the attorney general, and the government has no power to punish them for it," Dershowitz told the Post. "So efforts to get the names of the booers is an effort by the government to chill free speech and is unconstitutional."
After the hunt, staffers are going to be admonished and "educated."
"We want the members to come forward," the letter read, according to the Post. "They will come to headquarters to be educated why their behavior is unacceptable."
The staffers were also warned by the Uniformed Fire Officers Association in a letter that there is "video footage" to out them.
"As part of this discussion, questions may be asked to specific UFOA members over their actions or their recollections," UFOA wrote, the Post reported.
James denounced the boo birds, saying "Oh, come on. We're in a house of God. First, simmer down," which only led to "Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!" chants, according to the report.
The FDNY is using James' words to say it is not a hunt, but an appeal to not protest her in a "house of worship."
"Nobody is hunting anyone down," spokesman Jim Long told the Post. "We're looking into those who clearly broke department regulations.
"It has nothing to do with politics. It's about professionalism at an official event held in a house of worship."
James, an elected Democrat, is pursuing the political opposition Trump after years of promises and campaign vows to sue him.
Dershowitz is author of "Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law," long denouncing James' bold partisan use of legal leverage against the political opposition.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.