A Metropolitan Police officer has been placed on “non-contact status” while being investigated for wearing a shirt with white supremacist iconography on duty.

The shirt came to the attention of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. by way of the group Law4BlackLives. This group of lawyers is supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and they told NBC Washington that they have routinely told the department about the officer identified as Vincent Altiere. According to them, he wears the shirt with the words “Let me see that waistband jo” (a more aggressive form of stop and frisk) to D.C. Superior Court and in the community.

Other images affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy can be seen on the shirt such as the Celtic cross which appears in the "o" of the word "powershift."

“This shirt is offensive and indicates systemic bias in the policing of people of color,” Law4BlackLives said in a statement. “White supremacy and insinuated threats of death should never be associated with or tolerated in police departments who are sworn to protect and serve.”

Police Chief Peter Newsham responded to the backlash on Friday, July 28 via Twitter. 

“We understand the trust of the community is critical to our ongoing work and take seriously any incidents that may undermine the confidence the community has in our members,” a separate statement read. 

Activists and community leaders are calling for the officer's termination. The DCist reported that an estimated 1,000 people have signed a petition demanding that Officer Altiere be fired. 

"It's three different levels of problems that are highly offensive and inappropriate. It suggests support for really problematic ideologies," says Eugene Puryear of the Stop Police Terror Project, one of the groups that put out the petition. "It's almost like they're deliberately taunting the community about their fears and concerns they have about their constitutional rights."

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