Stuffed monkey hung in St. Paul fire station

The discovery of a stuffed monkey hanging from a noose in a St. Paul Fire Department equipment-services garage has rekindled concerns about racism and a "culture of exclusion" within the department.

It also is inspiring hope for change, however.

Black firefighters met Thursday to air their concerns, and Fire Chief Tim Butler said he expects to discipline two employees for workplace misconduct in connection with the incident, which occurred in August. Upon seeing the monkey, he said Thursday, his reaction was: "That's a violent act. That's a violent symbol. It doesn't belong in our fire station."

But an outside investigator who reviewed the matter has told the chief that she did not find the act to be racially motivated. While acknowledging Thursday that he was surprised by the finding, Butler did not say he disagreed with it, a reaction that disappointed St. Paul NAACP president Nathaniel Khaliq, a retired firefighter.

"He's really sounding like a politician," he said. "He's apparently not going to call it what it is."

City Council Member Melvin Carter III said: "It would be a very difficult pill for me to swallow that a monkey hanging in a noose was anything but racially motivated."

Mayor Chris Coleman called the incident unacceptable and said that he was confident that Butler would take appropriate action: "We will continue to work with all involved on new department-wide training that will bring this conversation into the open and supports our efforts to build a workplace that reflects the face of our community," Coleman said.

A 1992 discrimination lawsuit filed by 11 black firefighters resulted in an out-of-court settlement in which St. Paul paid $690,000 to the firefighters and their attorneys.

Then, eight years ago, Khaliq was one of six black firefighters who filed another racial discrimination lawsuit against the city alleging that white co-workers left magazines with racially offensive cartoons in fire stations, and that co-workers tampered with the protective gear and fire trucks used by black firefighters.

On Thursday, Carter agreed with Khaliq that the culture within the fire department needs change -- now. He saw a chance, he said, to make a "very clear transition point between an old department and a new department in which nothing like this will ever be tolerated or accepted."

Although Butler was made aware of the hanging monkey incident about three months ago, Khaliq said the NAACP and the active black firefighters had decided against making the incident public to "give this chief the opportunity to do the right thing."

Butler said that after being told of the monkey, he ordered that it be taken down and promptly called for an outside investigation.