An FDNY first responder, who was immortalized in an iconic 9/11 photograph, has accused an ‘all-black’ color-guard of anti-white discrimination.
According to The New York Post, Lt Dan McWilliams said was kicked out of the procession being led by the Vulcan Society, a fraternal organization of black firefighters.
McWilliams filed an equal employment opportunity complaint with the department after the president of the Vulcan Society asked him to ‘help in a different capacity’ at a church service on November 19 instead of holding a flag.
Lt Dan McWilliams filed a compliant accusing an ‘all-black’ color-guard of anti-white discrimination (Pictured, from left to right, George Johnson, Dan McWilliams and Billy Eisengrein raise a flag at the remains of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001)
McWilliams (second from left) filed an equal employment opportunity complaint with the department after the president of the Vulcan Society asked him to ‘help in a different capacity’ at a church service on November 19 instead of holding a flag
‘I have asked Lt [Mc]Williams to help in a different capacity for the ceremony today,’ allegedly read a text from Regina Wilson, president of the Vulcan Society. ‘I want to have an all-black color guard.’
McWilliams, 51, was one of two white members of the six-person ceremonial crew that day.
The New York Daily News reported that Wilson said she had yet to be interviewed by FDNY investigators and was not aware of the complaint filed against her.
‘I’m unaware of any complaint made against me. I have not been contacted by anyone in the Fire Department,’ Wilson, the first woman to head the society, told the News.
McWilliams (third from left) was immortalized in a photograph when and two fellow firefighters took an American flag from a yacht docked at the Hudson River hours after the September 11 attacks and ran it up a Ground Zero flagpole
President of the Vulcan Society (pictured), Regina Wilson, said she had yet to be interviewed by FDNY investigators and was not aware of the complaint filed against her
‘But if this does get brought to my attention I would be more than happy to discuss what really occurred with the FDNY,’ she added.
Just hours after planes flew into the World Trade Center in the infamous September 11, 2001 terror attack, McWilliams took an American flag from a yacht docked at the Hudson River and, with firefighters George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein, ran it up a flagpole at Ground Zero.
Photographer Thomas Franklin captured the moment and it became one of the of the most well-known images of that day. The Vulcan Society has been pushing for a more diversified FDNY.
In 2014, the department agreed to pay $98million to settle a lawsuit charging discrimination against blacks and Hispanics applying to become firefighters.