An Alameda County firefighter’s racist rant following a traffic incident last week has sparked outrage on social media after a Stockton resident posted video of the tirade.
The Alameda County Fire Department is in the process of placing the firefighter on paid leave, officials said Monday.
The video, which went viral on TikTok over the weekend, shows the firefighter standing outside a car, accusing its driver of causing a collision Friday morning on state Highway 99 near Lodi. When the driver suggested that police should resolve the dispute, the firefighter called the driver a “dumbass Mexican.” Later in the interaction, the firefighter referred to the driver as a “Filipino b–ch.”
Condemnation of the firefighter’s comments was widespread across multiple social media platforms, with multiple commenters on TikTok calling for the firefighter to be fired.
“This (made) my blood boil,” one commenter replied to the video, calling the firefighter an “embarrassment.”
Alameda County Fire Chief William McDonald offered a similar opinion about the firefighter.
“I consider it embarrassing behavior and something that’s not supported by the department,” McDonald said. However, Alameda County Fire Department is not classifying the comments as racist until it completes an investigation into the circumstances around the interaction, McDonald said.
“I consider it embarrassing behavior and something that’s not supported by the department.” Alameda County Fire Chief William McDonald
While McDonald denied that the circumstances excuse the firefighter’s comments, he said the department would not take further disciplinary action until it investigates.
In the video, the firefighter doubled down on his comments, repeatedly calling the driver a Mexican or a Filipino, using the terms as epithets. When the driver accused him of racism, the firefight responded, “I ain’t no f–king racist. I’m a f–king firefighter,” pointing to his ACFD shirt.
“I don’t think that there’s any shield against racism because you’re a firefighter,” McDonald said Monday.
‘We are deeply troubled’
The Alameda County Firefighters union said in a statement on Monday that it was aware of the altercation between the driver and its union member, adding it will fully cooperate with the investigation.
“We are still working to get a full understanding of the incident, but we are deeply troubled by the remarks made in the video,” said Sean Burrows, president of Alameda County Firefighters Local 55.
The grainy video led to confusion over the firefighter’s affiliation, with some social media users initially speculating that he was a Stockton firefighter before ACFD announced its investigation.
In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday, an account affiliated with Stockton Firefighters Local 456 distanced itself from the firefighter seen on the video.
“He is not ours,” the post said, accompanying a screengrab from the TikTok. “This video has gone viral on social media for racist viewpoints. It’s disturbing and disgusting. Please share to let other know that this is not our guy.
In the video, the driver also alleges that the firefighter spat on them. “I’ll f–king spit on you all f–king day,” the firefighter said in response.
McDonald said he watched the video, spoke to the firefighter, and “admonished” him for his actions. The firefighter, who has worked for the department since 2004, expressed remorse for his comments, McDonald said. At the Monday event, McDonald offered a public apology to the driver on behalf of the firefighter and the department.
“Such behavior is not representative of who we are, whether the department or our values we strive to embody every day,” McDonald said. The driver could not be reached for comment on Monday regarding either the incident or ACFD’s subsequent investigation.
