Two Memphis police officers have been suspended after uploading and sharing a photo depicting a white hand holding a handgun aimed at an emoji of a running black boy.
According to KMTV, the photo was uploaded to Snapchat last Thursday evening—around the same time that the Dallas sniper shooting was taking place—and was quickly reposted to Twitter. Both the officer who uploaded the photo and the officer who posted the image to Twitter have been suspended without pay. The names of the officers were not immediately released.
"The image is disgusting and will not be tolerated," Interim Police Department Director Mike Rallings said in a press conference. "We are certainly responsible for the decisions we make, and we are held to a higher standard.”
While the image is offensive in and of itself, the suspension was allegedly handed down due to the officers violating the department's social media policy, which requires employees to "avoid any conduct which could compromise the integrity of the Department."
"The fact that it could have been a Memphis police officer just blew me away, and again we deal with these things," said Rallings. "We are certainly responsible for the decisions we make, and we are held to a higher standard."