Pennsylvania Firefighter Suspended for U.S. Flag on Locker
A Chester Pennsylvania Firefighter has recently been suspended without pay after he refused to remove an American flag sticker from his firestation locker.
Firefighter James Krapf was told to remove the sticker from his locker since he violated a policy the department has in place that states personal items can only be placed on the inside of the locker. The flag is displayed on the outside of his locker.
This policy was put into place after other firefighters complained about a cartoon that they found racially offensive.
James Krapf was suspended on Thursday and so far is the only firefighter at the station to be suspended for this policy.
“I shouldn’t have to remove the flag of the country I believe in. I love my country,” Krapf told Myfoxphilly.com. “I love my job. I love helping people. I’ve been doing this 11 years in the City of Chester, so this is something I love to do.”
Krapf said he would like to meet with the fire commissioner and the mayor to discuss the issue and his suspension. The fire commissioner reportedly told local media outlets that the only way to make sure people would not be offended by other firefighters personal items was to make a rule to not allow any items at all on the outside of the lockers. This would also decrease the bickering among the staff.
4 Responses to “Pennsylvania Firefighter Suspended for U.S. Flag on Locker”
The commissioner is black, James Johnson. The wise ass who put up the original offending item is black. That’s why he was not summarily fired or even punished.
see: http://www.chestercity.com/fire_department.cfm
But a patriotic white fireman?? gets punished. Pay back for slavery etc??
but why does the Union rep have to bring up 9/11. Really??? I agree the originally culprit should be punished instead of the whole dept. There is no reason to have him take down the sticker, but to have the union rep bring up 9/11 is a low blow.
I agree. He should be free to display an AMERICAN flag in an AMERICAN firehouse. It’s way to easy to see that the so called “policies” are false if they have no real documented proof to show it (dated BEFORE) any of these mishaps. I would refuse to remove it myself. He’s my hero for saying no.
Do you know how many veterans are part of the Chester Fire Department? Answer: One, and his name is Commissioner James Johnson who was a Marine that served in the Vietnam War. I think that shows a hell of a lot more patriotism than a flag sticker!
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