Last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James was met with boos and shouts of "Trump" from members of the FDNY at a promotion event held at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn. Initially, it looked as if those firefighters might be investigated and subject to "re-education," though the FDNY reversed the decision. However, the issue of the boos and jeers is coming up yet again and looks to be an issue for months to come. As Fox News covered, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, a Bill Clinton appointee, is insisting the booing "doesn't have to do with politics, this has to do with race."
The incident almost certainly does have to do with politics, and because James herself is a political figure. She's also one who has gone after former and potentially future President Donald Trump with particular ferocity. On Monday, Trump posted his $175 million bond in a civil case brought by James, which was actually a lowered amount, thus allowing him to appeal.
In February, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump, his adult sons, and other business associates liable, thus resulting in a fine of $364 million, plus interest. James not only celebrated that decision, but was gleefully posting to social media on a regular basis details of the staggering amount that Trump owed.
Judge Garaufis' insistence about a racial motivation came after a complaint from Vulcan Society President Regina Wilson. As the Fox News report laid out:
Garaufis recently ordered FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh and the city’s Corporation Counsel, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, to appear before him at a status conference scheduled to discuss the settlement in the Vulcan Society of Black firefighters’ case against the FDNY in May, the New York Daily News reported.
At the last status conference on March 14, Vulcan Society President Regina Wilson complained to Garaufis about a March 8 incident where some members of the FDNY booed James and chanted "Trump! Trump! Trump!" as the attorney general took the stage during a promotion ceremony at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn.
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"I don’t know if you had an opportunity to just see the vile nature of these members even when we were at Christian Cultural Center where they started booing and saying ‘Trump, Trump Trump,’ while Letitia James was at the podium," Wilson said, referencing the incident that sparked an internal probe and prompted Kavanaugh to apologize. "This behavior is who this department is. Not all of them, but a large portion of them. So when Black people go to work and have to deal with this and you don’t get any help or support really from the department, it’s horrific."
"Get the EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] office straightened out. Take some of your brilliant lawyers from the Corporation Counsel and put them in there and start holding hearings. That’s not a request, that’s a direction," Garaufis responded, according to N.Y. Daily News. "I’ve lived in New York City all my life. I know what the problem is. And believe me, front and center is what happened the other day. This doesn’t have to do with politics, this has to do with race."
The concerns from the Vulcan Society go back further, with Garaufis, who was later overturned, ruling that requiring a written exam intentionally discriminated against black and Hispanic applicants.
As the Fox News report also mentioned:
The Vulcan Society accused the city of discrimination in a 2007 lawsuit, which the city agreed to settle for $98 million in back pay and benefits for aspiring minority firefighters in 2014.
While the case was still ongoing in 2011, Garaufis ruled that firefighter exams intentionally discriminated against Black people, according to the Daily News. A federal appeals court later overturned that conclusion but allowed Garaufis’ proposed solutions, including the appointment of a federal monitor, to stand.
In a statement that the New York Daily News included in their coverage, FDNY spokesman James Long noted how they "continue to work with our city partners so we can effectively re-staff the EEO office," and also mentioned that FDNY top brass are "having ongoing conversations with our members about decorum during department events."
Our sister site of Twitchy highlighted some of the best reactions to the absurd claims about race, and also pointed out how James herself has made racist comments about Trump, referring to his administration as "too male, too pale, and too stale!" After being met with cheers, she again repeated her line for emphasis, even leading the crowd into a chant, also insisting "and we will not go away silently!" Such remarks make James and those who decried the boos and chants of "Trump" she was met with look even more hypocritical.
The whole situation for the FDNY sure sounds like a headache.