Confederate flag license plate at MD firehouse brings threats & protective order requests
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A Montgomery County firefighter with 10 years service says he spoke out against racism after seeing a fellow firefighter had the flag affixed to the front of his pickup truck.
Fellow firefighters say in court documents requesting protective orders that the firefighter, Idris Debruhl, threatened them.
According to court documents, Debruhl was on duty at Station 6 the night of July 18 when he saw the flag on the front of a colleague’s truck, backed up so that the flag faced the station. Racial slurs had previously been used against him, and he heard anti-Muslim statements against others.
He said he told his supervisors about the flag, but they did nothing.
“I felt like this would be allowed and swept under the rug like so many other racial comments and symbols have been in the past,” Debruhl said in a statement.
Debruhl said he called the truck’s owner, Firefighter Charles Lee, “a racist and a coward,” and that Lee told him to calm down.
“We can take this outside,” Debruhl said Lee said.
Debruhl’s colleagues say Debruhl was the aggressor.
“I got more guns that all of you!” they said in protective orders that Debruhl said. “I’ll end this now!”
Debruhl said he spoke out against the symbol but never threatened anyone.
