The EMS lieutenant who tweeted a bevy of racist, antisemitic comments and was suspended after he hit the front page of the NY Post has now resigned from the FDNY. EMS Lt. Timothy Dluhos, 34, who went by the moniker "Bad Lieutenant", chose to resign to avoid any potential disciplinary charges that could have led to his firing when his 30-day suspension ended April 24. “He displayed bad judgment,” said First Amendment attorney Ron Kuby, who told the Post he had spoken with Dluhos. “It’s incredibly sad that stupid tweets could erase over a decade of service.”
To recap: Dluhos used a portrait of Adolf Hitler for his Twitter avatar (@BKNorthLt), and lamented working with "coloreds" while noting that "chinks can't drive" and calling Mayor Bloomberg "King Heeb." After being confronted by a Post reporter, Dluhos was photographed wearing a jacket embroidered with the words "Bad Lieutenant" and sobbing on his stoop. “There has got to be a lot worse out there than me,” he said. “My life is ruined. Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”
Dluhos is the second prominent FDNY member to resign in recent months over racist tweets—FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano's son resigned from the EMS due to a series of hate-filled tweets in March as well. More bad social media behavior from EMTs came out after that as well.
Dluhos, who officially retired on April 16 and will get a partial pension, may have found himself a new job by now though: he previously moonlighted for Richmond County Ambulance on Staten Island part-time, and has worked more hours for the service since his suspension.
