Holly MatkinSeattle, WA – The Seattle Firefighters Union Local 27 has committed to donating half of the proceeds from its “Thin Red Line” items and apparel to Black Lives Matter.
The union had stopped selling the items for a period of time, but decided to revisit the issue during its January meeting, according to The Post Millennial.
After the motion to start selling the “Thin Red Line” merchandise on the union’s online store was “reworded… to be more inclusive of all nations, paid and volunteer services and Line of Duty Deaths,” the union voted 37-to-31 to resume sales.
A motion was made and seconded to donate 10 percent of profits made off of the “Thin Red Line” items to the Widow and Orphans Fund for fallen firefighters, followed by a motion to bump the donation percentage up to 20 percent, The Post Millennial reported.
That’s when at least one union member made a motion to give the other 80 percent of proceeds to the Black Lives Matter organization.
The union ultimately got on board and passed an amended motion to distribute profits from the sale of “Thin Red Line” items “equally (50/50) between Widow and Orphans Fund and BLM,” according to The Post Millennial.
NEW🧵:At a recent meeting of the Seattle Firefighter Union – Local 27, the organization decided to start selling "Thin Red Line" apparel again.
At the meeting it was decided that the proceeds would be split 50/50 between the fallen Firefighters Widows and Orphans Fund and BLM pic.twitter.com/IJW6EkATu9
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) January 30, 2023
The decision, which was made despite the slew of allegations of corruption and fraud that have been leveled against Black Lives Matter and its founding members, was made shortly after Seattle Fire Department (SFD) personnel were instructed to remove all “Thin Blue Line” flags from their stations because “someone complained,” according to the news outlet.
“…leadership made a management decision to have a Thin Blue Line flag removed from a public area in one of the fire stations,” the SFD told The Post Millennial in a statement. “While the SFD fully supports our law enforcement partners, the flag’s original meaning of support for police has been coopted by its use at rallies for extremist groups.”
SFD sources said the directive was issued by Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, according to the news outlet.
Sandy Malone
