FDNY Official Accused of Sending Anti-Semetic Texts About FF

Feb. 28, 2020
An FDNY firefighter who investigated the line-of-duty death on the set of "Motherless Brooklyn" alleges that an assistant chief fire marshal called him derogatory names in texts to another person.

An FDNY official is accused of sending anti-Semtic texts about a Jewish firefighter who was part of the line-of-duty death investigation on the set of the movie "Motherless Brooklyn in 2018.

Court documents filed last week in Putnam County allege that Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Michael Durkin of the Bureau of Fire Investigation sent texts to a third party in 2017 that called firefighter Jonathan Cummings derogatory names related to his Jewish heritage, the New York Post reports. Cummings—who investigated the fire that broke out on the set of Ed Norton's "Motherless Brooklyn" on March 22, 2018, killing firefighter Michael Davidson—claims he has faced retaliation for disputing the findings of the fatal incident.

"The scourge of anti-Semitism continues to be embraced by the upper echelons of the FDNY,” Peter Gleason, Cummings' lawyer, told the Post.

The allegations against Durkin came out in legal documents submitted by Cummings' father, Ronald. The retired Scarsdale police officer claims he had six handguns confiscated as part of the retaliation against his son, and he is asking for the return of the firearms.

The FDNY told the Post that is investigating the allegations.

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