TW: The article mentions disturbing details about racism.
In a shocking, demeaning, and racist move, a New Jersey firefighter captured on surveillance video is seen tying a noose and throwing it at a Black co-worker. The white man named Walter Coffey has been terminated from his job and is unemployed at the time of writing this story.
Coffey was fired from the Bloomfield Township Fire Department on November 16. His termination was listed under the category “other,” without further explanation.
Throughout 2025, several racist and bullying incidents have been reported online, and thanks to the proper use of social media that people who are involved in such degrading and heinous acts have been served what they deserve.
According to The Atlanta Black Star, Bloomfield Mayor Jenny Mundell confirmed the firefighter’s dismissal in a Facebook post in December. 12, though she did not name Coffey directly.
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While the department’s mayor did not reveal many details about the incident, the administrative process related to the November 2023 incident had concluded, and the township no longer employed the firefighter involved in the case.
Coffey was suspended without pay for nearly two years following the incident, which involved fellow firefighter Patrick Thomas. Thomas sued the department for not taking serious disciplinary actions against the act and asked for $25 million in damages.
Patrick Thomas claims that his colleague used the N-word and insulted him. According to the complaint, there were two incidents in November 2023. First, on the 8th of the month, during a rope-training session.
Coffey allegedly told the victim, “Thomas, there is a noose upstairs on the table, did you see it? (For context, a noose is a kind of knot historically linked with lynching, which was a form of racist violence used against Black people in the United States, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s.)
About a week later, during another training session, Coffey reportedly tied a hangman’s noose, threw it toward Thomas while laughing, and said, “I want you to figure out what kind of knot this is.”
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Surveillance footage showed the terminated worker making fun of Thomas in front of other department workers, which left him feeling humiliated. In December 2023, Coffey was charged with bias intimidation. A judge later allowed him to enter a pretrial intervention program, which he began in January 2025, according to Montclair Local.
According to an internal investigation conducted by the legal team, Walter Coffey has worked with the Bloomfield Township Fire Department since 2000. Because of an impulsive racial stunt pulled out as a casual intent, Coffey has lost his job and stained his reputation and years of hard work.
Mayor Mundell said the township would not tolerate racism. “Bloomfield will not tolerate racism in any form, and our community deserves a workplace and local government that reflect those values,” she told NJ Advance Media.
As per data from the Pew Research Center, Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. workforce, but their representation is much higher in several fields. Owing to the long-standing history of racial struggles for people of color in America, it’s good to witness social media act as a strong medium of evidence in legal disputes, which helps people who were wronged on the road to justice.
