Illinois city of Evanston investigating photo of firefighters wearing Trump masks at work

Richard Requena, Chicago Tribune on Jan 24, 2025

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CHICAGO — The city of Evanston is investigating an incident in which four Evanston firefighters wore Donald Trump masks while at work, according to the city’s spokesperson, who also said a photo taken of the incident is genuine. The investigation will look at whether it violated the city’s code of ethics.

The photo of the four employees, who were wearing Evanston Fire Department shirts in addition to their Trump face masks, began to circulate on Reddit this week. The image depicts the employees sitting on easy chairs, and it has an orange tint and a “#47” in red, white and blue in the corner, an apparent nod to Trump being sworn in as the 47th president a few days ago. One employee is giving the “thumbs up” gesture with both hands.

City officials said the picture is authentic, and not digitally manipulated.

Evanston’s Communications and Engagement Manager Cynthia Vargas released a statement on behalf of the city saying that the city is performing an internal investigation.

“Although the City cannot comment on the specifics of this investigation, we remain dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and integrity among all employees. We will continue to uphold our commitment to serving all community members fairly.”

Mayor Daniel Biss commented, “This picture is extremely troubling and disappointing to see. While I cannot comment on specifics in an ongoing investigation, I’m thankful for the immediate response from the Fire Chief and City Manager and I’m confident in their work to make sure everyone feels safe when calling 911 when they need emergency services.”

1st Ward City Councilmember Clare Kelly said Fire Chief Paul Polep apologized to the City Council on behalf of the department earlier this week.

Under the city’s code of ethics, employees are not allowed to use city property for political purposes. In a similar case, a flag supporting Donald Trump’s re-election campaign outside of Melrose Park’s police department was removed in November after it received backlash.

Not everyone saw the masks as a political act.

“I don’t see it as political,” 8th Ward City Councilmember Devon Reid told Pioneer Press. “Firefighters work 24-hour shifts… when they’re on their downtime, they’re on their downtime.”

“I think it was a boneheaded thing to do at work while in uniform… but I don’t think this represents anything bad about the Evanston Fire Department,” he said.

For now, Reid said the city will go though an investigation to find out if the city’s code and policies were violated.

Since the photo’s posting, plans for an organized demonstration outside of Fire Station 3 on Sunday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. began to pick up steam on social media.

“After recent events both nationally and locally, I’ve decided it’s time to get involved politically,” the original poster said. “Evanston is a diverse community that welcomes everyone. Bigotry, hate, sexism, fascism, etc, have no place in our community, especially within our fire department, whose job it is to protect the community.”

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