Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

Posted: 2022-09-09T12:00:01Z | Updated: 2022-09-09T12:00:01Z

Donald Trump incited an attack on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in five dead police officers and 140 more officers injured, and he is now under three criminal investigations, but that did not dissuade three dozen Pennsylvania state troopers from posing for a photo with the former president during his visit last weekend.

Trump on Sunday showed off the photo of him flashing a thumbs-up sign with rows of uniformed troopers on either side of him, a large sign and logo for the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop P, Wilkes-Barre directly behind him.

The night before, at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, he had attacked the FBI and the Department of Justice for investigating him. Just days earlier, he had said he would likely pardon all the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters, many of whom have been charged with assaulting police officers at the Capitol that day.

Thats unacceptable. It alienates a lot of people, said U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who was beaten and subjected to racial threats during the final phase of Trumps coup attempt. Taking a formal picture at a rally where hes literally attacking the FBI and the DOJ, your brothers and sisters in law enforcement, by the way thats a slap in the face.

Michael Fanone, a former Washington police officer who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury after being beaten and electroshocked on Jan. 6, had a more blunt assessment of the photo.

Professionally? Its unprofessional. Its improper, he said. Personally? Those two or three dozen Pennsylvania state troopers, from the bottom of my heart, can go fuck all the way off.

Neither Capt. Patrick Dougherty, commander of Troop P, nor Deanna Piekanski, the public information officer, responded to HuffPost queries. Trumps staff also did not respond.

Myles Snyder, communications director for the Pennsylvania State Police at its headquarters in Harrisburg, issued the following statement: PSP members at this particular event were afforded an opportunity to gather for a photograph with the former president. The photograph in question was not officially sanctioned or disseminated by the Pennsylvania State Police. The Pennsylvania State Police does not endorse any political candidate or campaign.

He would not, however, respond to follow-up questions.