On January 10 Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA-48) and Brian Babin (R-TX-36) removed the anti-cop painting from the walls of the U.S. Capitol complex just hours after Representative Lacy Clay (D-MO-1) and other Democrats had placed it back on the wall.
In late December Clay chose the painting as a fitting representation of the August 9, 2014, shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Breitbart news previously reported that the painting depicts police officers as animals with tusks.
On January 6 Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA-50) removed the painting from the wall and took it to Clay’s office. Hunter said, “I’ve seen the press [reporting on this painting] for about a week or so. … I’m in the Marine Corps. If you want it done, just call us.”
Clay responded by talking to Capitol Police about theft charges against Hunter on January 9, then by putting the anti-cop painting back on the wall on January 10.
It now appears that two other Republicans–Rohrabacher and Babin–have taken the painting down out of respect for law enforcement. A tweet from Alex Gangitano shows Babin taking the painting off the wall and handing it to Rohrabacher so they can take it to Clay’s office again:
The painting was created by David Pulphus, a “Cardinal Ritter College Prep graduate” who entered the painting into “a nationwide art contest coordinated by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.” St. Louis American describes the painting as depicting “a downtown street scene with the Gateway Arch displayed in the background and three police officers with animal heads, two with guns in hand, and a large group of marchers moving toward the police.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.