First responders in three states under investigation for allegedly mocking Charlottesville violence

WashPost

A Philadelphia firefighter has apologized for an apparently racist photo making light of the protests that turned violent over the weekend in Virginia.

Philadelphia firefighter John Deluisi reportedly tagged an African American colleague in a Facebook photo showing Deluisi wearing a hat emblazoned with the Confederate battle flag and holding a tiki torch. “Headed to VA,” the caption read, according to Fox affiliate WTXF.

“I am very disappointed in myself, and I’m very sorry,” he told the news station.

“I am an idiot. I am very sorry. Maybe I get too carried away on Facebook, and I put something up there that was stupid. I thought he would get a joke about it. I really did. And thinking about it, it was very stupid,” he added.

Deluisi could not immediately be reached for comment by The Washington Post.

[Police officers in two states accused of mocking Charlottesville violence]

Philadelphia Fire Department Capt. William Dixon said the matter is under investigation. He said the fire commissioner is “certainly disturbed” by the preliminary reports but that the department is still working to get to the bottom of it and determine how to best handle the situation. 

Indeed, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said he was “utterly horrified and disgusted.”

“Racist images, symbols, words and actions are contrary to our mission and values and have absolutely no place in our Department,” Thiel said in a statement Tuesday to The Washington Post. “We will take swift and decisive personnel action after a full investigation. The Department will follow-up with intensive and focused workplace conduct training for our more than 2,600 members.

Law enforcement officers in two other states are being investigated for similar incidents.

An officer with the Shively Police Department in Kentucky and an officer with the Springfield Police Department in Massachusetts allegedly made fun of the fatal car crash that occurred during the Unite the Right rally Saturday in Charlottesville, where hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members clashed with counterprotesters. A 32-year-old Charlottesville woman was killed, and others were wounded in the attack. [MORE]