A noose and note depicting a hanging found in a Baltimore City firehouse is being investigated as a hate crime, police officials said Wednesday.
The noose was discovered by two paramedics early Wednesday morning, along with a note depicting a lynching at the Herman Williams Jr. firehouse in East Baltimore.
The note, written in a child-like scrawl and left next to rope tied in a knot, was found in the bunk room.
“We can?t hang the cheaters, but we can hang the failures,” the note read.
“No EMT I, no job,” it said, referring to the requirement that all Baltimore City firefighters must pass advanced life-saving training as a condition of employment. [EMT I refers to emergency medical technician, intermediate.]
Fire Chief William Goodwin said the incident was uncharacteristic of the fire department.
“I have never tolerated this type of behavior. … We are going to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Goodwin said one of the paramedics who discovered the note was black.
“One individual was very offended by it,” he added.
Mayor Sheila Dixon blasted the incident in a written statement.
“I am outraged by this deplorable act of hatred and intimidation,” she said. “Threats and racial attacks are unacceptable anywhere ? especially in a firehouse.”
The 25th Street firehouse ? named for Herman Williams, Baltimore?s first black fire chief ? has been embroiled in charges of alleged racial incidents before.
In May, an afro wig was placed on a moose head in the same firehouse; however, a black firefighter later admitted to decorating it.
Union officials said they were awaiting the outcome of the investigation of the noose and note.
“I think there is more than meets the eye,” said Stephan Fugate, president ofthe fire officers union. “Everyone reserve judgment until the investigation is completed.”
The city?s inspector general, Hilton Green, has investigated the allegations of cheating on a recent lieutenants test, a probe alluded to in the note. His final report has not yet been released.
