FDNY ‘looking into’ staff who booed NY AG Letitia James, cheered for Trump at ceremony
The FDNY pushed back on a report that it was "hunting" down firefighters and staffers who booed New York Attorney General Letitia James and shouted, "Trump! Trump! Trump!" during a promotion ceremony last week, saying that it is simply looking into those who broke department regulations.
"Nobody is hunting anyone down," FDNY spokesman Jim Long told Fox News Digital in an email on Sunday morning. "We’re looking into those who clearly broke department regulations. It has nothing to do with politics. It’s about professionalism at an official event held in a house of worship."
The New York Post first reported that FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens wrote in an email to department brass that the FDNY’s Bureau of Investigation and Trials was investigating the incident and "will figure out who those members are."
"I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the commissioner it will be better for them if they come forward and we don’t have to hunt them down," Hodges said in the email obtained by the Post.
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The booing erupted as James walked up to the podium to honor the swearing-in of the first African American woman chaplain of the FDNY, the Rev. Pamela Holmes, as well as other first responders.
"Oh, c’mon, we’re in a house of God. Simmer down," James told the rowdy crowd. "Thank you for getting it out of your system."
As James continued her remarks, the crowd repeatedly chanted "Trump!"
Following the ceremony, Hodgens admonished the rowdy behavior of the firefighters.
"Today’s ceremony was about one thing: the accomplishments of the members being promoted," he said. "The members whose behavior distracted from that celebration were an embarrassment and not befitting of the world’s best fire department."
James led the months-long civil trial against Trump in New York City that alleged the former president had inflated his assets and committed fraud.
Judge Arthur Engoron handed down his ruling last month, finding Trump liable for more than $350 million in damages and barring him from operating his business in New York for three years.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.