Nashville officer suspended over Black Panthers Facebook pic
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Authorities say a veteran Metro Nashville police officer has been suspended for posting a Black Panthers photo as the profile picture on his personal Facebook page.
The police department confirmed to news outlets that Officer Christopher Taylor was decommissioned Monday after he posted a famous photo of Black Panther National Chairman Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, both of whom are shown armed.
Decommissioning is a non-punitive, administrative action in which an officer's policing authority is temporarily suspended, pending an investigation.
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It is unclear whether Taylor posted the photo before or after last week's police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the retaliatory killings of five police officers by a black sniper in Dallas.
Taylor, an 11-year veteran with the department, said the image is related to his interest in history. He has since removed it.