D.C. cop suspended for wearing White supremacist tee shirt while on duty

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article164370727.html




By Donovan Harrell

dharrell@mcclatchydc.com

July 29, 2017 4:38 PM

A Washington D.C. police officer accused of wearing a racist shirt while on duty was suspended Friday after an investigation.


Law4BlackLives, a lawyer group that supports Black Lives Matter, filed a complaint against the officer, after a photo of him wearing the shirt began circulating on social media.


“This t-shirt is symptomatic of a dangerous and insidious combination of racism and a crass abuse of power that has infiltrated the police department,” the complaint read.

D.C. Police didn’t release the officer’s name, but the lawyer group identified the officer as Vincent Altiere in the complaint.




According to The Washington Post, the black shirt has the words “Seventh District District,” which is a district that has a few of the city’s most violent areas, including Anacostia, Barry Farm and Washington Highlands.


The centerpiece of the shirt is the Grim Reaper holding a rifle with the Washington D.C. flag attached to it. Above the flag lies the words “powershift,” which refers to the officers assigned to areas with high amounts of crime, The Washington Post reported.


On the ‘o” in “powershift” is a type of cross identified by the Anti-Defamation League as the same type of cross belonging to a neo-Nazi website.


Lastly the shirt has a phrase that says “Let me see that waistband jo,” which the advocacy group said refers to the police practice of demanding to see individuals’ waistbands, mainly people of color, to check for weapons.


“The message conveyed on the T-shirt does not represent MPD’s values,” the D.C. police told the Washington Post in a statement.


Police Chief Peter Newsham denounced the shirt.


Strange and scary times we live in, when avowed White supremacists are serving on the police force.

 

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