PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Delaware County fire company has been shut down, pending an investigation over racist comments allegedly made by its leaders.
That investigation has begun into whether the reported hate speech and alleged comments about an 8-year-old girl killed at a high school football game in August were accompanied by criminal behavior.
"I would not repeat it in company because I don’t believe any of it was appropriate," said Darby Township Solicitor Michael Pierce about the language allegedly used by leaders of the Briarcliffe Fire Company after a call with neighboring fire departments.
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Neighboring fire companies in Delaware County were having a Zoom meeting in late January about the potential consolidation of those companies. They met with state and local officials as well.
After that Zoom call, leaders at the volunteer Briarcliff Fire Company continued to talk, allegedly saying multiple racial slurs and making jokes about Fanta Bility.
Bility, 8, was shot and killed at a high school football game. Three fired police officers have been charged with her death.
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The racial slurs and prejudicial acts allegedly made on that call in January are so bad that Delaware County Council has shut down the firehouse for 30 days, and District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer is investigating the incident.
"It makes you wonder how many calls (have been) made that they didn't come on time to save a life, how people sat in that ambulance and they didn't think their life really matters," said Crystal Bell, a Darby Township resident.
"How many fires didn't they come to on time?"
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Bell said the words of the firsthand reports she’s heard of the call still ring in her head.
"We're (racial epithet) and they didn't want us in their ambulance," she said.
"I’m going to be very blunt, because I've got to speak the truth, and for them to crack jokes about Fanta Bility, this little girl, it's unacceptable."
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"How mean-spirited it was to comment on the death of an 8-year-old child," added State Senator Anthony Williams (D-Delaware County, Philadelphia).
"The way that some individuals chose to mock that is beyond question and beyond pale one of the most outrageous spaces any human being Black, white could occupy."
Stollsteimer said although the speech may not be a crime, they're going to look into whether there were criminal actions behind that alleged speech.
Bility family lawyer Bruce Castor shared this statement in full Thursday evening:
"The family of Fanta Bility is appalled by the audio recordings out of the Briarcliffe Fire Department mad public today. Fanta was a bright, bubbly, innocent child who looked forward to a life filled with helping others who were hurting or injured -- before being killed by careless actions of three Sharon Hill Police officers. A kind and loving girl, Fanta brightened the lives of everyone she met.
"To speak of her with such disrespect, shines the light of shame on those people at the fire house making the remarks, and reflects negatively on those good and true first responders who pledge their lives to the service of all members of the community.
"Americans, from every walk of life, and of all ideological persuasions, should join her family in mourning Fanta’s death, and in echoing their calls for justice.
"By brazenly mocking Fanta and her death, some associated with Briarcliffe Fire Department did a disservice to the community they are sworn to protect, thereby reopening wounds from that fateful night when Fanta lay mortally wounded, though conscious, knowing her life drained away.
"To trivialize what this young girl endured that night gives new meaning to the descriptive “despicable.”
"Fanta’s family and I join in the calls for disciplinary action to be taken against those responsible, and for further investigation into the culture within the county that made them feel sufficiently comfortable to express such views that are unacceptable in any civilized society, much less in the United States."
