UPDATED: Firefighter now facing discipline for gesture supporting flag-burning Ferguson protest
UPDATE
WPRI-TV now reports a Providence, Rhode Island firefighter has been told he will be punished for showing his approval to a flag burning Ferguson protest that took place at the city’s Public Safety Complex a week ago.
Public Safety Commissioner Steve Pare would not say what the discipline is for the firefighter who is a relatively new hire, having finished his training last January.
“He has the right to a hearing,” Pare said. “If he accepts the proposed discipline, there is no hearing.”
EARLIER
There is an interesting investigation underway in Providence, Rhode Island. According to WPRI-TV, it involves an on-duty Providence firefighter who was standing in a window at the Providence Public Safety Complex last Tuesday night as a flag-burning protest over the Ferguson, Missouri grand jury decision occurred in front of the building. Public Safety Commissioner Steve Pare says a gesture made by the firefighter appears to have further incited the crowd and could have created a danger for police. Pare believes since the firefighter appears to be taking sides during a political protest, it may also have been a policy violation.
At 2:30 in the video below from Steve Ahlquist, for about :15 you see the silhouette of the person in the window with his fist raised.
The Providence protest included about 100 people who blocked the garages that house the central station’s firefighting apparatus, before marching toward Interstate 95 which moments later was brought to a halt on the southbound side by members of the same crowd.
“We were disappointed in that (firefighter’s) behavior,” Pare said. “The gesture incited the crowd in a way that could’ve been dangerous to the officers who were trying to manage and keep the protestors safe.”
Providence firefighters’ union president Paul Doughty would not comment about any details surrounding the incident.
“All I can say is it’s under investigation,” he said.
Neither Doughty nor Pare would release the firefighter’s name. Pare said there are no plans to suspend him during the investigation.
