Mayor John Whitmire backed the Houston Fire Department's decision to dismiss a dozen cadets over racist messages exchanged in a group chat last month. KHOU 11 asked the mayor to share his first public on-camera comments on the issue since it was first reported late last week. "We have zero tolerance for any racism," Whitmire told reporters Thursday at City Hall. "We're not going to talk about people's race in a negative way or sexual orientation, we want good, decent firefighters." Twelve cadets were dismissed on April 18, days before cadet graduation on April 24. More: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/whitmire-fired-hfd-cadets-zero-tolerance-racism/285-293961f3-b130-4f7f-97bc-fbcf8e8c13e3