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6 Firefighters Fired After Hanging Noose on Lieutenant's Family Photos

—City of Miami tells news media to stop showing photos of firefighters fired in incident.

MIAIMI  — Six firefighters were fired over an incident in which someone hung a noose over a black lieutenant’s family photos inside a fire station. The city of Miami is now demanding that the media stop showing their pictures.

City of Miami firefighters, from left top: William Bryson, Kevin Meizoso, and David Rivera; from bottom left: Justin Rumbaugh, Harold Santana, Alejandro Sese, were fired over an incident in which someone hung a noose over a black lieutenant’s family photos inside a fire station.

After releasing the pictures of six firefighters fired over an incident in which someone hung a noose over a black lieutenant’s family photos inside a fire station, the city of Miami is now demanding that the media stop showing their pictures.

Just after midnight Friday morning, an assistant city attorney wrote an email to multiple news outlets demanding that the media “cease and desist from further showing the firefighters pictures in your coverage of this event.” Jones said the photos of the six men had been released accidentally.

“As former first responders, their photos are confidential and exempt under Florida’s public disclosure law and should not have been released,” wrote Kevin R. Jones.

The email was sent to the Miami Herald, WFOR, WPLG and the Associated Press, among other media outlets. The Miami Herald has decided to leave the photos on its website.

A noose made of thin white rope was then hung over one of the photos. Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban has referred to the incident as “a hideous, distasteful act of hate.”

Robert S. Webster, the African-American firefighter and 17-year department veteran whose photos were defaced, told WPLG in an interview that his “first reaction was basically disbelief.”

“I knew it wasn’t a joke because of the progression of little things that were taking place,” said Lieutenant Robert Webster.

More information about this story is available here.

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EMSFSN Staff
EMSFSN Staff

EMS Flight Safety Network is The People Who Keep Air Medical Safe.

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