Pompano Beach Fire Chief John Jurgle fired a recruit and accepted the resignations of three others following an investigation into a noose left hanging over the chair of the city's only black recruit on their last day of training.
Although the men said the incident was "just a joke," Jurgle says the Pompano department will not tolerate it.
On June 7th, Vilbert Green left the room to do a cleanup task. When he returned, he allegedly found the noose dangling over his chair and a table, next to a paper nametag with Green's name on it. Green took a picture.
Matthew Reilly was fired and recruits Kerop Berberian, Geandy Perez and Austin Sovay resigned.
The chief said he determined during the investigation that Perez tied the knot, but no one ever owned up to putting the noose over Green's chair.
The race of the recruits wasn't immediately known. They would have become full-fledged firefighters next year after completing two months of training.