Seattle Fire Department investigates after noose found in fire station

SEATTLE — The Seattle Fire Department has launched an investigation following the discovery of a noose inside a fire station.

The Seattle Times reports a firefighter found a “rope tied in a noose” last week at a station in the Bitter Lake neighborhood, which was brought to the attention of supervisors.

Department spokesperson Kristin Tinsley said SFD is working with the City Attorney’s office and has hired an independent investigator.

“Discrimination and racial harassment are antithetical to SFD’s values and will not be tolerated,” Tinsley said in a statement Wednesday.

Tinsley declined to share additional details about the incident to “maintain the integrity of the investigative process.” The investigation was first reported by The Stranger.

In a Feb. 18 email to department staff and firefighters, Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said he was “dismayed,” the incident occurred during Black History Month and that nooses have an “undeniable history in our nation as a symbol of racial hate and intimidation and historically has been used to murder Black people,” according to a copy of the email obtained through a public records request.