1010 WINS: “The FDNY suspended a Black firefighter because he refused to use a fire hose to spray water at George Floyd protesters last year, a new lawsuit charges. FDNY firefighter Omar Wilks, 41, hit department Commissioner Daniel Nigro, the city of New York and five other officials with a suit claiming his supervisor asked him and several other firefighters to ‘assist in controlling protesters by using the fire truck’s water hoses’ in May 2020, the Daily News reported. The FDNY did not end up using fire hoses on protesters, but the supervisor who called for their use did not see any repercussions, the lawsuit claims, despite the fact that hosing was a ‘brutal tactic used on civil rights protesters in the deep South decades earlier,’ the outlet reported.”

“When Wilks spoke out about the incident, as well as ‘racism in the department,’ higher-ups retaliated against him, according to the lawsuit. ‘These defendants sought to muzzle [Wilks] and inhibit his speech,’ the lawsuit claims. ‘They also retaliated against him for his speech… [and] worked collectively to manufacture false claims against the plaintiff.’ Wilks’ attorney, Aymen Aboushi, told the Daily News his client was ‘unlawfully punished for seeking to change the culture of discrimination at the FDNY.’ The FDNY reportedly deferred to the city’s Law Department when asked to comment on the lawsuit. A spokesman for the department told the outlet Wilks’ claims ‘are allegations made in a lawsuit, and they have not been substantiated.'”