Craig Bronaugh has disciplined four firefighters in Maywood, Illinois, for refusing to remove American flags from their lockers and helmets. He claims that there is a culture of racism in the department, citing a picture of a monkey smoking a cigarette he found on a locker. The firefighters – who include an African American, a Cuban and two white men – deny the chief’s allegations. They say the tension started when the chief ordering an American flag be removed from the inside of the fire station.
Four firefighters in a Chicago suburb have been relieved of their duties for refusing to remove American flags from their lockers and helmets.
The four were disciplined after they refused to comply with an order issued last week by Maywood Fire Chief Craig Bronaugh.
He claims that there is a culture of racism in the department and issued a strict memo saying all decals and stickers, including American flags and military stickers, should be removed from lockers and helmets.
‘As a fire chief here, I cannot afford nor tolerate,’ he told WGN. He cites a picture of a monkey smoking a cigarette that he found taped on a locker as evidence of the racist culture.
However the firefighters – who include an African American, a Cuban and two white men – deny the chief’s allegations.
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