Pressure is on a Pennsylvania community to sever all ties with a former assistant police chief and fencing contractor after he was charged for a racist verbal attack. State Senator Anthony H. Williams, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Delaware counties, joined the Delaware County Black Caucus and other community leaders at a press conference Thursday demanding the cancellation of any government contracts with J & P Fencing, which 46-year-old John P. Romano once owned and may still. Romano, of Delaware County, faces criminal charges, including ethnic intimidation, terroristic threats, harassment, disorderly conduct, and obstructing highways after the Nov. 21 confrontation with an unnamed Black woman. John Romano (Facebook/ Sharon Hill Fire Company- Station 9) According to the criminal complaint, he was loading trees onto his forklift while blocking traffic on a local road. The woman, caught in traffic caused by Romano, admitted growing impatient and honking her horn at the forklift. Romano, who is white, allegedly responded, “Who the f*** are you beeping at? Shut up b****.” The woman said she then tried to drive her car around the forklift. By then, according to investigators, Romano had jumped out of the forklift to confront the woman at ground level, calling her a “monkey” while saying he would find out where she lived and where she was from. Romano continued with the verbal assault, allegedly telling the woman, “You know what n*****, go get a f****** banana. I am not dealing with you today, plain and simple.” The woman said Romano took a picture of her license plate and claimed he had the power to have her vehicle towed. Romano threatened to become physical, according to the complaint, repeatedly calling her a “porch monkey.” And he scoffed at the suggestion she may contact law enforcement, the woman claimed, telling her he was “protected.” The woman did call the police. Romano, recorded on body camera video, admitted to calling her the N-word and then told one of the officers, “I’ll tell ya what I said, I’ll say it again, it’s my belief, they’re all animals. I’m tired of dealing with them.” When the officer told Romano about the possible repercussions he could face, Romano allegedly replied, “So I can’t call a n***** a n*****?” Romano, police said, claimed the woman had threatened to kill him. He then retracted his previous statement about him calling her a racial slur, according to investigators. “I didn’t call her a n*****,” Romano then told the officer, according to the criminal complaint. “I said, ‘Go get a banana, you monkey.’ That’s what I said. So, how’s that racist? She is a wild animal.” Darby Township Police Chief Mike Sousa said the officers on the scene were “shocked as much as I was.” “It was pretty cut and dry and that easy,” Sousa said. Romano, a former Sharon Hill Assistant Fire Chief, has been suspended by the fire company’s board of trustees and the borough has also severed ties, said Sharon Hill Council President Tanya Allen. Sen. Williams wants to make sure that extends to J & P Fencing. A representative for the company told NBC10 in Philadelphia that Romano sold the business years ago and hasn’t worked there in seven months. A lawyer for the company told the station Romano had just been hired to do work for that one day, reiterating he’s no longer the owner. However, a LinkedIn page still lists Romano as the owner of J & P Fencing. And he was responding on behalf of the company to Better Business Bureau complaints as recently as 2023. Romano is due in court in February. ‘They’re All Animals. I’m Tired of Dealing with Them’: Former Pennsylvania Assistant Fire Chief Charged After Admitting to Disturbing Racist Attack on Black Woman