NYPD couldn't handle its own tweet citing Jack Nicholson's 'You Can't Handle the Truth!' speech

The New York Police Department is facing backlash today for yet another facepalming misstep on social media.

On Tuesday, NYPD’s Midtown South precinct posted the following image of actor Jack Nicholson to their Twitter account.

The accompanying text — for those who can’t read 2-sized font — is Jack Nicholson’s famous “You can’t handle the truth!” courtroom defense from the film A Few Good Men. In the speech, Nicholson’s character —Colonel Nathan Jessup—unwittingly confesses to criminal behavior in the name of national security.

That irony of the cops’ tweet was not lost on Twitter users who happened to see it before it was deleted a few hours later; many users noted that Jessup was the bad guy in the film, and was arrested for his confession.

https://twitter.com/BruceWizayne/status/544566219039592448

This latest social media snafu comes months after Twitter users hijacked #MyNYPD— originally a hashtag in support of cops—to chronicle instances in which New York police officers were caught behaving badly.

The NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct did not return Fusion’s multiple requests for comment on the errant tweet.

Fidel Martinez is an editor at Fusion.net. He’s also a Texas native and a lifelong El Tri fan.