A controversial painting depicting police officers as pigs has been permanently removed from the Capitol complex.
The office of Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., — a former sheriff who officially appealed to the Architect of the Capitol that the painting be removed — confirmed to the Washington Examiner that it was taken down for good on Tuesday.
The painting, done by a black Missouri teenager, was one of hundreds of winners of the Congressional Art Competition. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., hung it in the tunnel leading from the Cannon building to the Capitol complex.
Four different Republican congressman took it down three times last week, and Clay hung it back on the wall each time.
According to Reichert, the painting violated the House Office Building Commission policies that prohibit artwork with “subjects of contemporary political controversy or a sensationalistic or gruesome nature.”
The Congressional Black Caucus defended the painting as freedom of speech. The painting, which showed cops as pigs pointing guns at protesters, was interpreted to be about the Ferguson protests following the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer in 2014.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., said that while he supports police, he also supports “the rights of those in the communities we represent to express frustrations with their day-to-day realities.”
“Unfortunately, politics has yet again trumped common sense. Rather than engage in a thoughtful dialogue about what would motivate an 18 year to express himself in this way, Congressional leaders have chosen to exercise their power to suppress a child’s free expression,” the CBC chairman said in a statement.
“By his unprecedented and unconstitutional action, following criticism of the artwork by Speaker Ryan and several GOP Members, the Architect of the Capitol acted to suppress the free speech rights of my constituent, and they have also sent a chilling message to young Americans that their voices are not respected, their views are not valued, and their freedom of expression is no longer protected in the U.S. Capitol,” Clay said in a statement Tuesday issued by his office.
“The assertion that the painting did not comply with the rules of the Congressional Art Competition is arbitrary and insulting,” he added.
“I plan to seek reversal of the Architect’s determination in short order,” Clay said. “Supreme Court precedent clearly falls on the side of artistic freedom as protected speech. As a member who reveres the First Amendment, I can assure you that I will redouble my efforts to defend it, and ultimately, the Constitution will prevail.”
