Former President Donald Trump removed a photo of himself posing with Pennsylvania State Troopers after an outcry from police officers who were attacked during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The photo, with more than 30 state troopers, served as the banner at the top of Trump’s Truth Social account since it was posted several hours after a “Save America” rally Trump held on September 3rd in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where the picture was taken. It remained up until Thursday after it caught the media’s attention, The Times Leader reported, and it was removed from the Truth Social website.
The Pennsylvania State Police said it is “customary” for officers to pose with dignitaries at an event where state troopers are providing security, but the photograph with the former president “was not officially sanctioned or disseminated by the Pennsylvania State Police.”
Officers who were attacked on Jan. 6 criticized the troopers who posed with the former president.
Michael Fanone, a CNN contributor and former Washington, D.C. police officer who was attacked on Jan. 6, told the HuffPost: “Professionally? It’s unprofessional. It’s improper. … Personally? Those two or three dozen Pennsylvania state troopers, from the bottom of my heart, can go f*** all the way off.”
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn slammed the photo as “unacceptable” and said, “It alienates a lot of people.”
