A disturbing incident in Suffolk County, New York, involving an emergency response from the fire department, has gone viral after people who were watching from the sidelines managed to take a video and upload it online. In the footage, the North Babylon Fire Company Chief could be seen berating a 10-year-old girl, calling her expletives and what some online users even assumed to be the “n-word” while loading her into an ambulance.
The footage was filmed and uploaded by TikTok user Chanzillaaa. In the video, which took place on August 4, you can see one of the fire department volunteers telling the 10-year-old black girl to “shut the f*** up,” “I deal with you every f***ing day,” and “shut your mouth.” TikTok users in the comment section even alleged that they heard the man say “f***ing n****r” near the end, though the audio was a bit jumbled to make the words out.
Thankfully, the angry man was identified as Peter Alt, a 22-year veteran and chief at the North Volunteer Babylon Fire Company. Alt has since been fired or relieved of all his duties by North Babylon following an investigation into the matter and the company’s statement itself. Additionally, the child’s grandmother has spoken out about the matter, as she was enraged by what the fire department chief did to her granddaughter:
“Maybe it was a blessing I wasnโt there because I would have jumped all over this guy. When you call for help โ the police, the fire department โ theyโre supposed to help you. Not treat you like garbage. And curse at a child at that,” according to the girl’s anonymous grandmother, transcript courtesy of NY Post
Apparently, this isn’t the first time North Babylon and even the Suffolk County police have responded to calls regarding the 10-year-old girl. The police even declared that they also dealt with the child “a few times” during the summer, though they swear they never treated the kid the same way as Peter Alt did.
The Silent Ones Also Caught Fire
Now, despite the Suffolk County police’s statement, people online still had their eyebrows raised because, as you can see in the video above, they did nothing while Peter Alt verbally abused the minor. The police and other New York fire volunteers just stood there and watched, and virtually none of them even tried to calm Alt down, especially after he said what the TikTok commenters assumed was a racial slur.
Hence, a lot of people online are also calling for sanctions or punishments for other men involved at the scene, and even consider their silence as complicity. Others are still debating whether Alt really said what they thought they heard him say at the end of the video, because that would’ve explained why he was so angry at the 10-year-old black girl.
“This isnโt ok,” explains Anahi
“What did he say at the end to that child? ๐ฑ,” asks shespeakslifeco
“The SILENCE of those other โmenโ is almost worse. Outrageous!” worried kat
“why are they letting her go alone with these men???? where are her parents???” questions chantwba9pf
“as a psych patient of many years: I can confirm, this is how they treat you most of the time. the mental health system is cooked,” claims Aura Farmer
