Cuomo: State probing Confederate flag display on Brookhaven fire vehicle

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement Monday he is directing the state Division of Human Rights to investigate the display of a Confederate flag on a Brookhaven Fire Department truck at a Patchogue parade.

"We have zero tolerance for symbols of racism or division," Cuomo said in a statement. 

The Brookhaven fire department on Sunday apologized for the flag and said it would conduct an internal review.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone on Monday also condemned the display of the flag.

“The incident involving an individual displaying a Confederate flag from a fire truck in our county warrants further review," Bellone said in a statement. "The public also must have confidence that any review of this matter is handled independently to ensure for a fair and impartial outcome."

Bellone said state and county human rights commissions should open a review of the incident, in which a fire department member placed the banner on a truck participating in a parade honoring an ill Patchogue firefighter. The flag is a symbol of white supremacy stemming from its adoption by the slave-holding states of the Confederacy during the Civil War.  

Suffolk Human Rights Commission chairwoman Lynda Perdomo-Ayala said the appearance of the flag was disturbing. She said commission officials are considering opening an investigation.

“I was actually horrified to even see it” on television news reports, she said. “It was kind of shocking to hear that. With everything that has been going on in the country, we would hope that people would ask questions and think about the things that they do and how it affects their communities. ... We’ll be looking into all of that, not only how the firehouse will handle it but what the outcome of that is.”

A photograph of the flag circulated widely on social media Sunday after a parade in Patchogue held to honor the sick firefighter. The drive-by parade was part of a firefighter competition that included about 50 area fire departments.

In a post on the Brookhaven fire department's Facebook page, Chief of Department Peter Di Pinto Jr. said a single firefighter was responsible for the flag, which Di Pinto said was placed on the ladder truck "without the knowledge of the leadership team." He added the flag display "is condemned in the strongest possible terms."

Di Pinto on Monday did not return calls for comment.

He said in the Facebook post that disciplinary proceedings had begun against the firefighter, whom he did not identify.

The flag display also was criticized by Brookhaven NAACP president Georgette Grier-Key, who said the group hoped to discuss the matter with fire department officials.

“We definitely want to reiterate our [goal of] defeating any symbols of hate," Grier-Key said. "We just think there needs to be some preventive action and hope that it will be monitored and looked at more closely.”

She added she hoped “that the leadership of the department makes sure something like this never happens again.”

With Antonio Planas

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.