Caught on video: A wink, nod & wave gets a goodbye. Ohio firefighter suspended as drum major after acknowledging President Obama at Inaugural parade.
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Click here to watch the video(or here). (This is a much cleaner version of the offending wink, nod and wave than the one from YouTube. It is the entire raw video of the TV pool feed as the Cleveland group passed the reviewing stand. We even have an instant-replay slow-mo for you at the end.)
UPDATE: Coleman quits the band. Click here
Read Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Michael McIntyre’s blog entry
Read Cleveland Plain Dealer interview with Coleman prior to the Inauguration
The Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drums website and MySpace page
Watch story by WKYC-TV’s Tom Beres on the band raising money for the trip to Washington
From the AP:
An Ohio firefighter has been suspended from his role in a pipes and drums group for giving President Barack Obama a quick nod during last week’s inaugural parade in Washington D.C.
Video shows Drum Major John Coleman giving the nod along with a fleeting wave as the Cleveland Firefighter’s Memorial Pipes & Drums marched past the president.
Bandleader Pipe Major Mike Engle says Coleman, a Cleveland Heights firefighter, violated the proper decorum required of a military parade.
Engle says other pipe bands complained about the behavior. Coleman has been suspended for six months.
Coleman says Obama smiled and waved and that he was just acknowledging the president.
