New York judge says FDNY booing of Letitia James, pro-Trump chants not about politics, 'has to do with race' | Fox News
By: Danielle Wallace (Fox News)
Of course it is................./S
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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New York Attorney General Letitia James booed at FDNY ceremony
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum has the latest on the attorney general's hostile reception at an event on 'The Story.'
Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis reportedly cited the incident involving members of the New York City Fire Department booing state Attorney General Letitia James and chanting in favor of former President Trump last month in suggesting that a racist culture persists at the FDNY.
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.
It happened weeks after Trump was also found liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in the civil fraud case brought against him, his family and the Trump Organization by James.
"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."
FDNY REVERSES COURSE ON 'HUNT' FOR FIREFIGHTERS WHO BOOED LETITIA JAMES, CHEERED DONALD TRUMP
"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 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.
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during his civil fraud trial at New York Supreme Court on Jan. 11, 2024, in New York City.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Wilson has long lamented about a backlog of EEO complaints, which are supposed to be fully investigated within 90 days, according to city policy.
At last month's hearing, FDNY officials argued the department has just half the investigative attorneys on staff compared to the 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They said EEO cases are being assigned to lawyers in other FDNY bureaus and to the Law Department while the FDNY works to hire more people to combat address the shortage.
"You have 900 lawyers sitting doing other things in the Corporation Counsel's office and lawyers all over the city government. Put them on detail, they already work for you, and do it. One hundred eighty days is not acceptable," Garaufis said. "And I want the commissioner here at the next meeting."
"I don't know what she's doing, but she's not working on this. And she's a former judge. I doubt she'd be too happy about having her orders ignored and her instructions ignored," Garaufis added of Hinds-Radix.
"Commissioner Kavanagh and the FDNY is committed to providing a professional work environment free of discrimination and harassment for all Department employees, which is why we continue to work with our city partners so we can effectively re-staff the EEO office," FDNY spokesman James Long said, according to the Daily News.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh apologized on behalf of department members who booed Attorney General Letitia James. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
He reportedly added that FDNY top brass are "having ongoing conversations with our members about decorum during department events."
"The FDNY takes every EEO complaint seriously, diligently investigates each complaint, and is committed to addressing the complaint backlog," Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci told the newspaper. "The court has previously expressed appreciation for the Corporation Counsel's active engagement in finding solutions in the past, and continued to acknowledge that a lot of the city's efforts have been done well. We'll be updating the court on how we plan to further assist the FDNY EEO Office."
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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What a bunch of bullshit......................They don't like her or her pursuit of Trump FFS
Why should they like their justified pursuit of the former 'president'? Why would they care in the first place?
What does it have to do with them?
Because
A lot
The judge should apologize for calling all the people that chanted Trump racists.
We stand a better chance of the left admitting Biden is a shit POTUS.
This coming from a Clinton appointed leftist liberal judge. Go figure...
If this is a liberal judge than of course it is about race, we have to hold Ms. James to a different standard based on the color of her skin, this is the liberal way.
It could NEVER be that James is an incompetent shit. Just the pathetic excuses like "it's racism".
I thought Letitia James was the Attorney General for the state of New York. It's not like James is powerless. Judge Garaufis seems to suggest that Letitia James becoming AG was the result of some sort of affirmative action; James is just a token to check a block. Letitia James is so disadvantaged by race that she cannot be held accountable for her own political abuse of power.
Garaufis appears oblivious that he is engaging in the typical racism of Democrats. This form of Democrat racism is intended to keep Black people on the plantation. The Democrat Party is the party of chattel slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation. Why should anyone be surprised by Nicholas Garaufis playing the race card?
She did NOT become Attorney General through affirmative action. That's racist.
Yes she did and no it’s not
Whut I sayd. Gripe at Judge Garaufis because that's whut he sayd. I thought the police and courts were all racists, anywho. But, then, playing the race card ain't really about racism, is it? The race card is a good excuse to burn a city block or two.
When people who know what they are talking about say something, believe them.
The firefighters "love" for Trump stems from racial attitudes. How many times has Trump mentioned that his prosecutors are black? How many times has he called the prosecutors "racist" ?
I was told a story about a firehouse here in Chicago, I know the story is true because it came from the horses mouth. A 12 flat apartment building in the "ghetto" was on fire and the firefighters let it burn. None of them wanted to risk their own safety putting out a fire in a building where drug addicts and gang bangers lived. Firefighters, like cops, often see humanity at its worst. If they werent before, a lot of them become racist. Hence a judge can say "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."
A judge who “assumes” too much should not be trusted.
BINGO
Sure sounds like racism to me - how dare that uppity black woman justifiably pursue the former 'president'?
Not to the untriggered
Amen to that!
Sounds like Don Lemon saying NYC is safe because he went out and had a nice dinner. The judge should have to show proof of his comment other than "I know what the problem is".
So he called the Commissioner into his courtroom because firefighters booed incompetence and supported a candidate. No, that's not politically driven.
For all intents and purposes, this "judge" is as fucked up as James is.
There seems to be a lot of those in that Democrat controlled bastion of stupidity.
They just don't like her
But there has to be an underlying reason. And for the idiots, that reason is "because she's black".
That's reasonable.
Glad you agree
Not what you said in 5.2.
That's how the Left gains so much power. They set up a line of their own creation based on a desired goal and you're either on the right side of that line or the wrong side. In this case, the line is set such that anything opposes the right side is described as racist. It doesn't matter what that anything is. It's still racist. This allows them to pursue the goal without having to persuade anything like factual arguments as to why the goal should be attained. If you can just condition people to accept what you tell them or face being labeled as being a shameful part of society you can pretty much do whatever you want.
The line rests entirely on fear. Fear of being labeled as some negative thing. There's never any actual argument or evidence. Only the fear. This principle (tactic) is applied to all that they do. Oppose this? You're a threat to democracy. Oppose women athletes getting paid the same as their male counterparts? You hate women. Think a man can't be a woman? You hate trans people.
A pattern that plays out over and over again.
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