*During a recent FDNY promotion ceremony, New York Attorney General Letitia James faced pro-Trump chants during her speech. The department is currently seeking to admonish those responsible for the disturbance.
James attended a ceremony at the Christian Cultural Center in Starrett City, Brooklyn, to honor “65 uniformed members from Fire and EMS Operations and the Bureau of Fire Investigation, 29 members of the Bureau of Fire Prevention, and 34 civilian employees receiving promotions,” the New York Intelligencer writes. The event also marked the appointment of Reverend Pamela Holmes as the FDNY’s first Black woman fire chaplain.
The audience began booing as soon as James was announced, and the jeers persisted as she started speaking. Check out the video report above.
“Oh, come on. We’re in a house of God,” James said to calm the crowd. “First … simmer down. Thank you, thank you, thank you for getting it out of your system.” The heckling eventually escalated into chants of “Trump.”
James often faces criticism from Trump on social media after she prosecuted the former president for inflated real estate prices, which didn’t end well for him, the Intelligencer reports. She recently filed a detailed 132-page opposition to Trump’s request to delay his more than $450 million civil fraud trial ruling.
Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that the FDNY is actively investigating the protest at last week’s church ceremony. The department called the hecklers “grossly inappropriate” in a memo circulating at firehouses. Officials are allegedly reviewing event footage to identify the disruptors.
“When you’re not on duty, feel however you want about politicians,” the memo reads, per the Post. “Vote. Protest. That’s your right. But don’t do it on the job’s time, on other members’ time, or on their families’ time. Do it on your own time.”
James addressed the incident in an interview with Politico. “I support an individual’s right to protest. I support the First Amendment, and I will defend all of those individuals who engage in the freedom of expression,” she said. “However, when it comes to political speech in houses of worship, that’s unacceptable.”
James believes the MAGA hecklers should not face disciplinary action, referring to it as “a teaching moment.”
“Nobody is hunting anyone down. We’re looking into those who clearly broke department regulations,” FDNY spokesman Jim Long said in a statement. “It has nothing to do with politics. It’s about professionalism at an official event held in a house of worship.”
READ MORE: Who is Letitia James, the New York Attorney General Who Filed Civil Fraud Lawsuit Against Trump?
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