Reply #3: Fire union assails Giuliani [View All]

[Scurrilous]

A planned parade ride on a firetruck by Rudy Giuliani has drawn ire from some firefighters in Miami-Dade and New York, who criticize his response to 9/11. Others expressed support.

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"Rudy Giuliani's plan to ride in a Miami-Dade firetruck in Sunday's Three Kings parade has outraged some firefighters who say the presidential candidate has ''lied'' about his 9/11 record because he did too little to equip and protect emergency workers.

The controversy -- unwittingly set in motion by County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa -- has politically pitted firefighters against one another in Miami-Dade as well as in New York. To quiet the feud, the IAFF's local Miami-Dade chapter, 1403, will cover its numbers on the union-owned firetruck by draping it with an American flag

Giuliani's campaign said he will probably ride in the truck and walk beside it with firefighters."

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"Jim Riches, a recently retired New York firefighter featured in the union's media, told The Miami Herald that Giuliani doesn't deserve to go anywhere near a flag-draped firetruck.

"This is improper. Rudy lied about what he did on 9/11. He's giving the appearance he's backed by firefighters and he isn't," Riches said, "Rudy has to go all the way down to Florida to get firefighters to stand next to him because he can't get that support in New York."

http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/377470.html