Former FDNY employee who posted racist tweets gets his job back
theGrio REPORT - The son of a former New York City fire commissioner who resigned from his position with the Fire Department of New York after posting several bigoted and anti-Semitic tweets - is now set to rejoin the department.
The son of a former New York City fire commissioner who resigned from his position with the Fire Department of New York after posting several bigoted and anti-Semitic tweets is now set to rejoin the department.
According to the New York Daily News, Joseph Cassano, 26, was only out of the Emergency Medical Services Academy for five months when the tweets were discovered.
On Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Cassano tweeted, “MLK could go kick rocks for all I care, but thanks for the time and a half today.” Another post read, “Getting sick of picking up all these Obama lovers and taking them to the hospital because their Medicare pays for an ambulance and not a cab.”
Another post stated, “I like Jews about as much as hitler #toofar? NOPE.”
He resigned in March 2013, shortly after receiving backlash for his posts.
Now, Cassano has confirmed that he’s set to rejoin the department with the next Emergency Medical Services Academy class beginning July 13 — much to the ire of several black fire fighters. Despite the skepticism that he’s faced with, he insists he’s seen the error of his “very ignorant and very immature” ways.
“I am very grateful to get an opportunity like this,” Cassano said in an exclusive interview with the Daily News. “I’ve apologized for those comments and I am still apologizing for them today.”
Yet, a source told the New York Post, “The Cassano administration permitted him a chance of redemption he would never have given anyone else by allowing him to submit a resignation. He should have been dishonorably fired instead.”
Cassano maintains that he is in a great place and believes he will be an asset to the Fire Department.
