When they were ordered by the city to take down “Thin Blue Line” flags from the fire engine, Hingham Firefighters Local 2390 refused to comply.
The controversial Blue Lives Matter flag has become the center of a dispute between the firefighter’s union and town officials.
Many view the flag as a sign of bigotry and hatred that was produced in response to the Black Lives Matter (Racist Hate Group) movement.
However, the Thin Blue Line flags that Hingham firefighters had flying from their fire engine in memory of a slain Weymouth police sergeant. Not long after the firefighters refused to remove the flags were police forced to show up and carry out the city leaders’ directive instead.
“Police officers from the night shift, who worked alongside Sgt. Chesna removed the flags from our trucks,” the firefighters union wrote. “The flags will be brought to the Weymouth Police Headquarters, where they will continue to fly with honor.”
The union said in a Facebook post:
“We were aware of an impending order to remove the flags from the apparatus,” the post read.
“We did not want to risk the chance of having these flags removed from the trucks in a disrespectful manner. The decision was made to conduct the removal of the flags on our own terms to provide the highest level of respect that they deserve,” the post continued.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear why the issue became a police matter which required their involvement beyond city officials asking for the flags to be removed.
Thankfully, the flags ended up being donated to the Weymouth Police Department (WPD) to honor Police Sergeant Michael Chesna, who had been murdered in the line of duty on July 15, 2018.
According to the union, the flags had been posted from the town’s fire engine in honor of the anniversary of Sgt. Chesna’s death:
“The flags were recently put on the apparatus leading up to the anniversary of the senseless murder of officer Michael Chesna in our neighboring community of Weymouth,” the union said in the post.
“We continued to fly the flags after the anniversary in support of the law enforcement officers in our own community, as well as all law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day.”
Thankfully the local community has shown the union “an overwhelming outpouring of support.”
“We will continue our unwavering support for our brothers and sisters in law enforcement and first responders everywhere,” the firefighters union said.
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM