Some California firefighters were forced to remove a police flag from their fire truck over the fears of a few extremists.
A group of firefighters in Riverside County, California, wanted to honor police officers killed in Baton Rouge and Dallas. So firefighter Eric Hille decided to display a pro-police flag on one of the fire engines at Sunnymead Ranch Station 48.
You’ve probably seen the flag — it’s black and white with a blue stripe through the middle — symbolizing the “thin blue line.”
He posted the flag just a few hours after a gunman attacked officers in Baton Rouge, killing three. Hill said they just wanted to show their support for law enforcement.
The next day the fire chief sent an email to the firefighters — telling them the flag had to come down. Chief John Hawkins wrote, “Our foremost concern was whether the flag could create a safety risk for emergency responders due to extremists targeting the fire engine.”
He said the fire department had to “look at the big picture saying a pro law enforcement message could cause a negative response from some. He also called the removal a “difficult” and “painful” decision.
Todd Starnes of Fox News called the explanation “a load of Grade-A fertilizer.”
He wrote “It’s pretty clear to me the fire department big wigs were more concerned with the feelings of the anti-police crowd.
Mr. Hille told the story on Facebook. It created massive outrage — so much so — that the fire department asked him to remove photos of the flag from his social media accounts.