By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The FBI is now investigating a possible hate crime involving a St. Louis firefighter. A stuffed monkey was found hanging in his locker on Saturday.
Pictures of the hanging monkey were distributed to the media Tuesday by the black firefighters group F.I.R.E. The group has not made any statement about the incident but plans to hold a news conference about it Wednesday.
The fireman who found the stuffed monkey in his locker is reported to have said he has been the target of other hate crimes.
In the meantime, the Fire Department is not commenting but has turned over its internal investigation of the incident to federal investigators.
The incident comes at a racially-charged time for the fire department following the ouster of former Chief Sherman George, who is black. He was replaced by Dennis Jenkerson, who is white.