black fire fighter held at gunpoint by police while in front of his station in full uniform

[Demovictory9]

Link to tweet

[fierywoman]

1. Fire the policemen. I call this bs. Enough already.

[Demovictory9]

2. more

https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/i-am-one-of-you-rhode-island-firefighters-emotional-story-of-racial-profiling-by-police/

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A Rhode Island firefighter gave an emotional account of being racially profiled while standing in front of a fire station – while wearing his uniform.

Choking back tears, Terrell Paci, 23, shared his story with sister station WPRI during Friday’s protest in downtown Providence. He said he was outside the Messer Street fire station talking to a friend who had brought him food when both officers came at them with their guns drawn.

“I was dressed in full uniform and had my radio in hand,” Paci said. “I was like, ‘I’m a firefighter, I’m PFD, I’m one of you’ and they still kept approaching the vehicle with guns drawn.”

“After identifying me as a Providence firefighter, one officer asked if I had a gun in the vehicle,” he continued. “I said, ‘No, I am not allowed to carry a firearm while on duty, I am an essential worker and I’m not breaking curfew.'”

Paci said one of the officers asked to search his friend’s vehicle, and she gave him permission.

“The officer then searched the passenger’s side, never checked the driver’s side, nor did he ask for identification,” he recalled. “He then proceeded to continue on and search the back. He then stated that due to the amount of stuff that’s in the back, he doesn’t want to make a fuss and inconvenience us.”

Paci said the officer then “hastily” got back into his vehicle and drove off.

Hours later, Paci said a Providence police sergeant visited the fire station and apologized for what the two officers had done, “and yet the two officers were not present.”

Soon after Paci’s story aired, Derek Silva, the president of the Providence Firefighters Union, took to Twitter, saying, “This situation makes clear that even in uniform, a young black man is not immune from the impact of systemic, institutional racism.”
v

[Guilded Lilly]

3. It's as if some of these "police" officers are purposefully trying...

to cause trouble, going out of their way to be total assholes.
It’s more than enough is enough. It is an outrageous, accelerated breakdown.

[yardwork]

26. It's always been like this. Some people hate black people.

[Guilded Lilly]

43. Yes. That hate is being even more enabled now.

[Cha]

4. JHC.. Fireman while Black!

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Impunity

Those cops know what's been going on the last 10 days, and they still thought this was OK.
Disgusting.

[dsc]

7. I am not going to lie

I honestly thought that cameras would stop this crap. I was naive enough to think that cops, knowing the likelihood that they would be on camera at any given moment (or the certainty given body cameras), would stop doing this stuff or failing that would actually start being held accountable. But no, they just aren't. At this point, I think the only thing that is going to work is to have a wholesale restart of policing in this country.

[tishaLA]

8. until they start losing their jobs....

it's gonna keep happening.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Hey, I'm With You

I figured knowing the eye in the sky is so present these guys would tame their wild side.
But, that impunity manifested itself as "Go ahead & record it, I'm safe."
And jerks will be jerks. It's that silent 50, or 70 or 80% who just look the other way that anger me.
See something, say something should apply to cops, too.

[uponit7771]

17. Yep, but they are all Chauvin in they know they'll pay little to no price for thier actions

[yardwork]

27. The racists are pushing back. This needs to be stopped.

The jurisdictions are going to have to start firing and charging officers. It's the only way to root this out.

[Nevilledog]

34. Prosecutors, cops, jurors..... a lot of them worship at the altar of trump.

They're easily misled. Willingly misled. Is the old don't believe your lying eyes. The video doesn't reflect what really happened. And they swallow it...... some cuz they're weak, some cuz they're sociopaths. Seen it happen over and over again.

[Iggo]

6. Cops.

[tblue37]

9. This is the same young firefighter:

Heartwarming Photo: Firefighter Saves Cremation Urn From House Fire

Earlier this week, a beautiful moment was captured by Providence, Rhode Island photographer Matthew Donovan. While taking shots of city firefighters battling an apartment building fire on Elmwood Avenue, Donovan zoomed in on Providence Firefighter Terrell Paci as he was walking towards a woman and holding an urn. The woman started to sob and put her hands out to accept the urn. She clutched it close to her chest and touched the firefighter's shoulder in appreciation.

Turns out, the urn contained the ashes of Michelle Cordeiro's late daughter who recently passed away. She spoke to a reporter from the Providence Journal, a few hours later and thanked firefighters for recovering her one true priceless possession. According to The Journal, the pink urn was decorated in gold butterflies was inscribed, “Danielle Lynn Cordeiro, Dec. 4, 1987-March 24, 2018. Rest in Peace.”

[grantcart]

19. Very touching

[dalton99a]

44. +1

[stillcool]

10. No black life is safe in the United States

[Coventina]

12. FTP & ACAB

[A HERETIC I AM]

29. You're absolutely god damned right.

Fuck the fucking police in this country anymore.

God damn.

I swear, if I had the resources, I would leave and denounce my citizenship.

I love this country, but it embarrasses the hell out of me these days, and this is just another dollop of icing on that cake.

This man deserves a public apology from the officers involved as well as the Mayor and the Police Chief.

Fuck me sideways, when will this madness end?

[yuiyoshida]

13. WTF is wrong with these people?

SMDH.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. " Nobody ever made a song called "Fuck the Fire Department". " . . . nt

[uponit7771]

18. lol ... So true !!!

[A HERETIC I AM]

30. Spot ON!!

[McCamy Taylor]

32. Good one!

[erronis]

15. Reading the story, I wonder if it isn't the police union trying to bully the fire-fighters.

Gangsta territory.

"We're in charge here. Don't you forget it."

The whole world of whose in charge is totally upside down.

The AMA self-policing the medical profession.
The Police unions self "policing" their own.
The US Senate making up its own rules as it goes along.

How about the rest of us? Can we just do the same?

[Hav]

16. Racist pigs ramping up their racist tactics to terrorize PoC

at a time when they get increasingly called out for their racism. I think they are angry that people have a problem with that and doubling down is their response. Because they are not only racists, they are also stupid.

[zentrum]

20. And what if this young firefighter

…..made one unexpected move? Would he be dead?

This is rank bullshit. They must be fired.

[oasis]

21. Crooked cops continue their terroristic actions against black and brown folk.

Is Fraternal Order of Police only green lighting this nationwide oppression, or is a directive?

[2naSalit]

22. They want to be in control of everyone

and they will fight with all their might to keep on pushing their agenda. The bad actors now are trying to intimidate us.

[Evolve Dammit]

23. ENOUGH. This is rascist, criminal assault.

[AllaN01Bear]

24. this is getting downright rediculus. enough of this nonsense .

in uniform? in front of his own station house ? how stoopid can one get?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

28. Oh FFS

[Lonestarblue]

31. FBI warned In 2006 that white supremacists were infiltrating police departments.

Here’s a link from PBS to a story about the FBI report. As far as I know,,nothing was done to address the issues from the 2006 report. The PBS article is from 2016 and it highlights abuses within the system, but once again nothing was done. That’s the problem—we know the issues but no one does anything about them. Perhaps this time, that will change.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement


“In the 2006 bulletin, the FBI detailed the threat of white nationalists and skinheads infiltrating police in order to disrupt investigations against fellow members and recruit other supremacists. The bulletin was released during a period of scandal for many law enforcement agencies throughout the country, including a neo-Nazi gang formed by members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who harassed black and Latino communities. Similar investigations revealed officers and entire agencies with hate group ties in Illinois, Ohio and Texas.

Much of the bulletin has been redacted, but in it, the FBI identified white supremacists in law enforcement as a concern, because of their access to both “restricted areas vulnerable to sabotage” and elected officials or people who could be seen as “potential targets for violence.” The memo also warned of “ghost skins,” hate group members who don’t overtly display their beliefs in order to “blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes.”

[crickets]

36. THIS. 👆

[dalton99a]

45. And evidently they have been hiring them en masse.

[A HERETIC I AM]

33. I don't think cops give two shits about firefighters, frankly.

I think they see them the same way they see everyone else; As people that aren't in their group.

I've seen many more stories like those above over the years. I remember NYFD fighting with NYPD at "Ground Zero" in the hours and days after the morning of 9/11, in many cases because the cops didn't like being told to go fuck themselves.

[rockfordfile]

35. Americans should get to know who the cop was. Yes fire the idiot

[crickets]

37. ...

Link to tweet

KnitDan @knittingdan
Replying to @David_Leavitt and @BufferingJuffy
Sure would be a shame if firefighters started turning the hose on rioting police

[Tipperary]

38. And not the south.

Interesting.

[TeamPooka]

39. Providence/Boston: same thing.

[Tipperary]

42. Oh I see.

Thanks for clearing that up for me!

[Buckeye_Democrat]

40. W...T...F!!

That's so wrong and disturbing!

Fire that damn cop! Maybe even charge him for the threatening behavior because it's so insane! That cop is clearly a menace to society!

[KY_EnviroGuy]

41. A good reply on twitter.

Link to tweet

Text:

fayette @Euphemia_1900

While they deny that the emperor is naked, they refuse to acknowledge that the black man could be wearing a uniform.
1:28 AM - Jun 6, 2020

Speaking as a former volunteer firefighter, cops and firemen used to be quite a brotherhood as they often face danger side-by-side and reinforce each other's work. Formation of huge metro departments and very tight budgets may have shifted that linkage.


KY........