A Rochester, New York, Fire Department recruit was fired on Monday after appearing in a YouTube video that shows him making antisemitic remarks.
In the footage, an unidentified man is seen driving a car with a puppet on one of his hands. After a passenger, who is filming the scene, says, “We’re in the Orthodox Jewish territory over here,” the driver says, “F***ing Jews.” Earlier in the video the driver also calls a pedestrian a “stupid, old white man.”
The video first surfaced on a local blog run by Davy Vara of Brighton. According to the blog, the driver in the clip is Rochester resident Joel Ramirez and the passenger filming the incident is his brother, Omar Ramirez. Omar later published the disturbing video on his Facebook page.
Rochester Fire Department Lieutenant Willie Jackson said during an unrelated press conference on Monday morning that he was notified Sunday night about the video, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. The Fire Department announced Monday afternoon that the recruit from the clip had been fired.
“I’m a little disturbed by it. I teach diversity in the department,” Jackson said. “The fact that someone would post it disturbs me more.”
