GOP Lawmaker Takes Down Dem Rep’s ‘Cops as Pigs’ Painting From Capitol Wall

Congressman Duncan Hunter, Republican from California took down a controversial painting from the wall of a Capitol complex hallway Friday morning.

The painting by St. Louis student David Pulphus which was selected as a winner of a Congressional art contest in 2016 is about the Ferguson, Missouri anti-police riots and depicted police officers as pigs. The painting was selected to hang in the Capitol by the office of Congressman William Lacy Clay, Democrat from Missouri. It has hung at the Capitol in a tunnel that connects lawmakers’ offices at the Longworth Building with the Capitol since a June ceremony for winners of the contest.

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Fox New’s Judson Berger and Malia Zimmerman broke the story of Hunter taking the painting down.

The Huffington Post’s Matt Fuller posted photos of the before and after.

A Republican congressman took matters into his own hands Friday and personally removed a painting depicting police officers as pigs that a colleague had allowed to be displayed at the U.S. Capitol complex.

“I was angry,” Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FoxNews.com. “I’ve seen the press [reporting] on this for about a week or so. … I’m in the Marine Corps. If you want it done, just call us.”

Hunter said he walked over to the artwork Friday morning with a few colleagues and unscrewed it. He then delivered it to the office of Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., the congressman whose office had allowed the piece to be displayed. The painting was done by a high school student and had won Clay’s annual Congressional Art competition in May.”

Read the complete article at Fox News.

Clay took to Twitter last week after controversy erupted about the painting when the Independent Journal Review broke the story, saying he had nothing to do with the painting but that he would not take it down.

“Members of Congress support student art competitions in our districts, we do not select the young artists and we do not judge the artwork…I had no role in selecting the winner of this student art competition and I would never attempt to approve or disapprove artistic expression…The U.S. Capitol is a symbol of freedom, not censorship. The young artist chose his own subject and the painting will not be removed.”

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This photo by IJR shows Clay’s name on the sign accompanying the painting.

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Kristinn Taylor has contributed to The Gateway Pundit for over ten years. Mr. Taylor previously wrote for Breitbart, worked for Judicial Watch and was co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com. He studied journalism in high school, visited the Newseum and once met David Brinkley.

You can email Kristinn Taylor here, and read more of Kristinn Taylor's articles here.

 

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