You’d think that last week’s story of Joe Cassano, the 23-year-old Fire Commissioner’s son who resigned from his job as an EMT after the New York Post drew attention to his racist Twitter presence, would prompt other awful FDNY employees think a little harder about what they choose to put on their own accounts. This was not the case with 34-year-old EMS Lieutenant Timothy Dluhos, whose now-deleted Twitter profile featured a photo of Hitler and a wide range of hateful posts.
Back in February, Dluhos wrote, “I’m going to give up racial insults for Lent. Jesus that didn’t [last] too long. F–ken chinks can’t drive.” Another tweet read, “I work with the coloreds … so that shit just run off on me.” Others featured references to Mayor Bloomberg as “King Heeb” and “King Jew” and complaints about “‘undocumented’ citizens and lazy asses who do drugs all day.” And, just for good measure, there’s this one: “I’m really a dirty pervert. I see a girl with tight pants on and my eyes immediately focus on her crotch to look for camel toe.”
The Post reports that, upon being confronted with the tweets, Dluhos turned into “a blubbering crybaby” and fell to the ground, wailing, “My life is ruined. I’m so sorry.” Amidst all the drama, he insisted, “There has got to be a lot worse out there than me.” Unfortunately, according to a retired EMS worker who spoke with the paper, Dluhos is probably right. “He is not an isolated case,” said the source. “He’s a symptom of a sick system. If you work in the city for police, fire or EMS and tell me you’re surprised by this, you’re a liar.” The FDNY told the Post that Dluhos’s case is “under investigation.” Meanwhile, the paper says that the department’s Bureau of Investigations and Trials has decided to get “proactive” about the problem by searching FDNY worker’s Facebooks, Twitters, and Instagrams for offensive material.
