The Daily Dot emailed the Philadelphia Police Department’s press office on Thursday morning to confirm Lichterman’s employment status and whether an investigation might be underway, but did not immediately receive a response.
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The image of the officer, who is identified by his uniform name tag as Lichtermann, began circulating on social media after a Philadelphia woman posted it to her Twitter account.
A photo taken of a police officer by an activist at a march for racial justice in Philadelphia has sparked controversy, but not for reasons you might imagine. On Thursday, when a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer tried to call Lichtermann on his cellphone, he was hung up on.
It showed a bike patrol officer with a tattoo on his left forearm of an apparent spread-winged eagle resembling a symbol used by the Nazis, and above it the tattooed word “Fatherland”. On his right forearm is an image of an assault rifle laid over the American flag.
The photo was posted to Facebook by Evan Parish Matthews, who claims the officer is named Ian Hans Lichtermann.
“The idea of being stopped, questioned, arrested, or of even passing this Officer on the street, Nazi insignias inscribed on his body with needle and gun, tattoo in plain sight, in a dominant placement on his body, is, in its most literal and modern sense, terrifying”, Matthews wrote.
“The Department does not condone anything that can be interpreted as offensive, hateful or discriminatory in any form”, officials said in their statement. “This is a very sensitive topic for both the citizens that we serve as well as the officers providing service to the public”.
Not everybody has been offended by the eagle tattoo. “Not a big deal”, John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, told the Inquirer.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney issued a statement on the photograph on Thursday, calling the imagery disturbing. He stated that the tattoo was “incredibly offensive”.
The Anti-Defamation League says the images have been associated with some neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups but cautions they do not necessarily mean the officer shares such ideologies.
Baron-Baer said more education is needed among police and the community about the meaning of such symbols.
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“The Philadelphia Police Department is aware of the image being displayed and circulated on social media”, a statement from the department read. The Nazis often referred to Germany as their “Fatherland” during the Third Reich.
