By EMS1 Staff
NEW YORK — An FDNY EMT who was forced to quit after a string of racist tweets will soon become a firefighter.
NY Daily News reported that Joe Cassano, who is also the son of former FDNY fire commissioner Salvatore Cassano, was an FDNY EMT before quitting in 2013 when his hateful tweets about Jewish people and minorities were found during his first year with the department.
“I like Jews about as much as Hitler #toofar? NOPE,” one of his tweets said.
“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 tweet said.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2013, Cassano tweeted, “MLK could go kick rocks for all I care, but thanks for the time and a half today.”
After seeking counseling and touring the Museum of Tolerance, Cassano was allowed to reapply to the EMT Academy in 2016.
The Vulcan Society said the FDNY’s lenience conveyed the wrong message.
“It’s unfortunate the FDNY has allowed someone who has proven themselves to be a bigot to beat the system. The FDNY isn’t showing it does all it can for inclusiveness and diversity when it goes out of its way to hire someone who violated its policies,” Vulcan Society president Regina Wilson said. “All those people who talk about the lowering of standards in the FDNY, we’ll be waiting to hear from you when Cassano gets sworn in.”
“EMT Cassano has passed all requirements for promotion to firefighter and is scheduled to enter the upcoming probationary firefighter class,” an FDNY spokesman said.