Rep. Duncan Hunter took a growing controversy into his own hands on Friday by personally removing a painting that depicts police officers as pigs from a hallway in the Capitol.
Hunter, a Republican who represents East County, removed the painting on Friday morning, according to media reports..
The painting from a district competition sponsored by Rep. Lacy Clay, a Democratic Congressman from the St. Louis area, had been displayed near a Capitol Police screening checkpoint.
Hunter, a Marine veteran and early supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, returned the painting to Clay’s office.
“I was angry. I’ve seen the press on this for about a week or so,” Hunter told Fox News.
Clay represents the town of Ferguson, MO, where a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager in 2014, causing nationwide protests.
The painting had hung for months without controversy until police organizations began urging House Speaker Paul Ryan to take it down.
The Los Angeles police and sheriff’s unions joined the call for removal of the painting on Thursday.
