A Philadelphia police officer is now on desk duty after a picture of him in Blackface surfaced on social media.
Hung Nguyen, a 22-year veteran had been working out of Philadelphia International Airport since 2004. The picture sparked outrage after it was posted on Facebook. Police officials became aware of the image Tuesday night and confirmed it was Nguyen in the photo. The department says they are now working to determine who created the image according to the NBC affiliate.
“We don’t know the nexus of the photo,” Philadelphia Police Captain Sekou Kinebrew said. “It could have been some sort of computer graphic that we see, or it could be something he physically applied on himself. That’s something we are looking to ascertain.”
Nguyen told NBC 10 he was hurt and upset. After being asked if he put on Blackface, Nguyen said its still under investigation.
The head of the Guardian Civic League a group of active and retired minority officers, Rochelle Bilal told NBC 10 she was disgusted by the photo.
“If he is the one who put the blackface on and the bush and put all of it out there, then he shouldn’t be a police officer,” Bilal said. “I don’t know authentically if it’s his image but you put it on your page and you left it there, for everybody to see.”