Mayor condemns photo of fire chief posing with woman covered with sushi

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – Mayor Ron Nirenberg condemns a photo of San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood posing next to a woman whose nude body is covered with sushi, flowers and leaves.

In the photo obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, Hood is holding chopsticks and kneeling next to the woman who’s lying on a table with sushi on her body.

“The scene in that photo is counter to the standards and values that we expect from the city of San Antonio organization,” said Nirenberg.

Hood was off duty and was not in uniform when the photo was taken in January at a birthday party for a San Antonio firefighter.  He told the Express-News he was there to support the firefighter who’s been battling colon cancer. The chief apologized to those who were offended by the picture.

” I didn’t go out there to offend anyone. I didn’t go out there to objectify women. I went out there to support one of my beloved firefighters who has been struggling with cancer for years,” he told the Express News.

City Manager Erik Walsh has called for an investigation into the incident which occurred in January at a  birthday party for a firefighter.

“I am supportive of the city manager’s call for an investigation and independent review of what happened to get the facts and issue the appropriate discipline at that time, but what was in that photo is clearly counter to what we expect from the values of this organization,” said Nirenberg.