Bloomfield Firefighter Accuses Peer Of Racial Harassment: Report

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Black firefighter in Bloomfield is claiming that one of his white peers tried to intimidate and racially harass him with a rope tied into a noose – an incident that was captured on video at a local firehouse, a report says.

A Bloomfield firefighter recently told NBC New York that his co-worker handed him a tied noose and asked him: “I want you to figure out what kind of knot this is.”

“This is a noose,” he replied. “This is what people used to hang my ancestors from trees.”

A similar incident involving a noose took place a week before, he added.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has charged the firefighter with “harassment with a purpose to intimidate” because of race or color. He has been suspended without pay, NBC New York reported.

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