Dozens of firefighters have planned a protest at an appearance by presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani Tuesday afternoon in New Jersey, according to a spokesman for the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Giuliani is set to speak at Congress Hall in Cape May as part of the “Tribute to Heroes” event, designed to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The protest is part of the union’s nationwide effort to question Giuliani’s “hero” credentials resulting from his part in the 9/11 tragedy and its aftermath, union spokesman Jeff Zack told U.S. News & World Report.
“We’ll continue to focus on high-profile events where it is relevant for our members to go and say their personal opinion of Giuliani,” he said. “Anytime an event has something to do with either 9/11, or first responders, or anytime he’s in New York City, we’ll be there.”
The International Association of Fire Fighters in July released a video documenting what it calls the mayor's numerous "failures of leadership" before, during and after the World Trade Center attacks.
In particular, the firefighters complain that Giuliani located the city's disaster response headquarters within a known terrorist target, the Trade Center; failed to provide working radios, which they say directly led to the deaths of 121 firefighters in one of the towers; halted recovery efforts at ground zero once $200 million in gold bullion was retrieved; and failed to provide proper breathing equipment to those working at the site, again leading to more preventable deaths.