NY Firefighters Forced to Remove Flag for 9/11 Heroes After Leftwing Questioning, Backlash Saves Day

We've seen a lot of bad stories this weekend that seem to have a common theme: people on the left seem on the march to try to stomp on everything that they don't like or find problematic, including things like the White House forbidding religious displays on an Easter egg design contest and proclaiming Easter Sunday "Transgender Visibility Day."

Now comes another story that's also a sign of leftists seemingly trying to stomp on something incredibly important.

Apparently, someone complained about a flag that firefighters had on one of their trucks at Ladder Company 11 in the East Village. The company had a flag with a red line in it honoring six of their brethren who were killed on 9/11 as they bravely tried to save people.

Beyond insufferable…https://t.co/sgHc9VOyq2

“Fire Department brass ordered an East Village ladder company to remove its “red line” American flag honoring the squad’s six brothers killed on 9/11 – after a neighborhood resident complained it was “fascist” and a local lefty pol… pic.twitter.com/Ea7vv1IULY
— Lake Cornelia Research Management (@CorneliaLake) March 31, 2024

Someone who identified himself as a staffer for Democratic Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera confronted the firefighters at their firehouse and said that she had complained to the FDNY management about the flag, calling it a "fascist symbol" and demanding to know from them why it was still up.

There was also a March 19 email from Lisander Rosario (he/him, a staffer for Rivera) to the FDNY asking about the flag, saying a constituent had complained and wanted to know if displaying political symbols was allowed.

Click on the tweet to see the full email.

Here’s a copy of March 19 email from a staffer in NYC Councilwoman Carlina Rivera’s office that led to the FDNY briefly ordering the removal of a “red line” US flag honoring 9/11 heroes from a Ladder Co. 11 fire truck. Letter questioned if it’s a “politically charged symbol.” https://t.co/o8jL1KWIO6 pic.twitter.com/U4Bzrn1vQk
— Rich Calder (@Rich_Calder) March 31, 2024

“[FDNY staff] claimed it was to honor deceased firefighters, however, [the constituent] brought up that they could’ve used an FDNY flag rather than a politically charged symbol,” Rosario wrote.
“It is to both his and our understanding that private political symbols aren’t permitted to be displayed on public vehicles.”
“Can you confirm if there are any violating flags/symbols on Ladder 11?” added the email, which was obtained by The Post.

Then after the alleged staffer visited the firehouse, Fire Chief Joseph Schiralli stopped by and told the firefighters that they had to take down the flag because there was a rule about not flying "altered" American flags. That rule came in 2020 after the BLM riots when BLM tried to claim that thin blue line flags that were supportive of police were somehow bad/racist. Schiralli was sympathetic but said they had to take it down, even though it was "ridiculous."

But that's when the backlash started. Social media erupted at such an absurd decision and the failure to recognize the importance of the flag.

Then Commissioner Kavanagh and Chief of Department John Hodgens reversed the decision and allowed the flag back on the truck. Rivera claimed that none of her staff actually approached the Ladder Company and that it was a constituent who complained. She said they only sent out the email to find out if there were "political symbols on display."

Rivera insisted to The Post that her office never contacted Ladder Co. 11 about the issue and that the initial complainant was a constituent, not a staffer.

There was nothing "political" about the flag except in the mind of some leftists, just like the thin blue line flag. The firefighters said they were happy it got resolved but that it should never have happened to begin with.

Not only does this show to what depths some on the left will go, but it also shows that pushing back against such insanity can bear results.