[INSIDER.FOXNEWS] A local official reportedly told firefighters in Rhode Island that they should not fly the American flag from their trucks. Fred Gralinski of the Central Coventry Fire District bizarrely compared it to ISIS flying its black flag while riding around in Iraq or Syria.
"They look like a bunch of yahoos," Gralinski said at a board meeting. "Like in the paper, like ISIS in Syria going to take over a city. I don’t think they need that big flag on the back of the truck. That’s not America to me. Those are a bunch of terrorists. So, I’m going to ask you to take the flag off that truck."
Gralinski later said through a front man that he chose his words poorly and apologized.
A firefighters union president said members are deeply disturbed by the request, saying some are former military. He said that in private, firefighters have been asked not to fly the flag.
A district front man says that a new policy requires firefighters to get approval before placing patriotic decals on trucks.
He added that the district is reviewing flag-flying protocol with the military.