http://news.yahoo.com/s/wesh/20080122/lo_wesh/15111568Firefighters across the United States are joining forces to try to sink Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign effort.
Some local firefighters said they call his recollections of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and promises of fighting terrorism a myth and insult.
A firefighters' union on North Orange Blossom Trail was the first stop in a series of rallies on Tuesday. Members urged voters not to support Giuliani for president.
The rally was organized by the International Association of Firefighters and family members of the victims of Sept. 11.
They said Giuliani is a fraud when he claims to be a leader in the wake of the terrorist attacks, and a liar for claiming to protect firefighters during the excavation of ground zero.
They also said he's weaving a myth on the campaign trail when he claims to have prepared New York City in the wake of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
Retired Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches lost his firefighter son on Sept. 11, 2001.
"The terrorists killed my son, but Rudy Giuliani gave us bad respirators, which caused many first responders to get sick and die. We had to fish human remains out of the garbage dump, and also he had failures in communication in everything else that did lead to unnecessary deaths ... down there of civilians and firemen because his administration failed to heed the warnings of '93," Riches said.
Giuliani was endorsed last week by a national organization of state police during a visit to Walt Disney World.
The group said the No. 1 reason they're backing him is that he's the best candidate to improve national security.
As for the firefighters' claim, a Giuliani spokesman said they're simply an arm of the Democratic Party.
