TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County NAACP president, Yvette Lewis, is calling for answers after it was revealed that a Tampa Fire Rescue station is under investigation for allegations of racist behavior.
Lewis says she met with a Tampa Fire Union representative on Friday to talk about the case.
"The NAACP will be following this case extremely close[ly]. We will be watching it. And we expect to see some results," said Lewis.
In an email, a firefighter with that station told ABC Action News that these incidents date back to February.
"There has been hateful displays of racism at Station 13 [...] which include a hanging monkey," he said.
That firefighter also told us he found a picture of himself with racially offensive language written on it.
Tampa Fire Rescue acknowledged the allegations in a social media post last week.
— Tampa Fire Rescue (@TampaFireRescue) June 21, 2023
When ABC Action News reached out to them for comment, they said, "An alleged incident of behavior... unbecoming of the values of 'Tampa Fire Rescue' occurred at a fire station. We take these allegations extremely seriously."
Tampa Police also acknowledged the allegations during a recent press conference.
"I've assigned my best detectives to look into that case," Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said, "We are taking that very seriously."
ABC Action News contacted Tampa Police to ask about the process. Although they said they were unable to speak about it since the case is still open, they also stated they were "committed to completing a thorough investigation."
