*A white Philadelphia firefighter is apologizing for sharing a Facebook photo of himself in a confederate flag hat and toting a tiki torch, along with the caption, “Headed to VA.”
Adding insult to injury, he tagged an African American co-worker in the Philly Fire Dept.
“I am very disappointed in myself and I’m very sorry,” firefighter John Deluisi told WTXF, claiming he was drunk when he took the photo and shared it…just days after tiki torch-wielding white nationalists wreaked havoc in Charlottesville, Va.
“You know I was drinking way too much. It was on my back deck and me and we joke back and forth and it was just a stupid dumb joke,” Deluisi told FOX 29.
Deluisi says he was responding to another post referencing Charlottesville, but went too far. It has since been taken down. But not before offending many residents who pay Deluisi’s salary.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney called the post “deeply disturbing.”
The Philadelphia Fire Department says it’s launched an investigation that could result in disciplinary action. Deluisi, meanwhile, is afraid the post will effect his nearly two decades as a firefighter.
“I am an idiot. I am very sorry. Maybe I get too carried away on Facebook and I put something up there that is stupid. I thought he would get a joke about it. I really did, it was very stupid,” Deluisi said.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
