The 17-year veteran said he discovered the noose the day before Hurricane Irma hit Florida in September.
Six firefighters in Miami have been fired for hanging a noose on a photo of a fellow first responder who is black.
The men also drew obscene sexual images on the family photos Robert Webster kept in his room inside Fire Station 12, according to city officials.
«This is shocking to all of us, that this behavior was condoned by so many,» Webster told CBS Miami. «These are people who don’t know the boundaries of their own hatred.»
‘Hideous, distasteful act of hate’
The 17-year veteran said he discovered the noose the day before Hurricane Irma hit Florida in September.
Someone had created a noose out of twine and hung it over his family photos.
«The noose was not the most disturbing thing to me,» he told CBS Miami. «The most disturbing thing was what they did to my wife, my daughter and grandkids.»
The firefighters «defaced several personal photos of a fellow firefighter with graphic and obscene phallic renderings,» according to termination letters sent to firefighters.
«We cannot and will not tolerate behavior that is disrespectful, hurtful and compromises the integrity of the department and the City of Miami,» City Manager Daniel Alfonso said in a statement.
Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban described the incident as a «hideous, distasteful act of hate» in a statement.
«You have my sincerest apologies for this childish, insensitive and intolerable act,» Zahralban said in a press conference Friday.
6 firefighters fired
The firefighters fired Wednesday are Cpt. William Bryson, David Rivera, Kevin Meizoso, Justin Rumbaugh, Alejandro Sese and Harold Santana.
According to the termination letters, Sese concocted the idea and retrieved the photos. Meizoso, Rumbaugh and Santana drew lewd images on the pictures, and Rivera returned them to their frames.
The letters don’t say who created the noose that was draped over the photo.
Bryson was accused of failing to stop the vandalism, ignoring requests to report the incident and lying to investigators.
Bryson is the son of former Miami Fire Chief William «Shorty» Bryson, who was cited by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for discriminating against black employees when he led the department’s union in 1992, according to the Miami Herald.
«We expect all of our members to be provided a safe, comfortable workplace and also to fair and complete investigations and just discipline when it’s warranted,» Freddy Delgado, president of Miami’s International Association of Firefighters, told the Herald. «We are very disturbed by the allegations and look forward to the opportunity to review all the facts.»
Five other firefighters were demoted and suspended in the investigation.
The fired employees have 10 days to dispute their terminations under the city’s civil service procedure.
When reached, Rumbaugh told the Herald, «I apologize but I really have no comments today.»
This is the second recent situation involving a noose with firefighters in South Florida.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
