CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri fire protection district has suspended one if its captains for speaking to the media about the board’s purchase of bulletproof vests.

The Monarch Fire Protection District Board of Directors suspended Capt. Chris Gelven Thursday for two days without pay. The district’s secretary told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday that the decision was unanimous. She declined to comment further.

The area firefighters union says it plans to file a grievance over Gelven’s suspension. The union president says the firefighter’s First Amendment rights were violated.

Gelven told the media in April that the board planned to line a wall in its meeting room with the vests for protection. He said the purchase was a “big running joke” that “sounded absolutely ridiculous.”