Washington D.C.- Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay recently encountered some activists who were urging society to “unlearn racism.” Rather than just dismiss the activists, McLay talked with them for some time and afterward, he posed for a photo carrying a sign that says, “I Resolve To Challenge Racism @ Work. #End White Silence”:

According to Pittsburgh television station KDKA, the group who gave the police chief the sign is called “Fight Back Pittsburgh”. On the group’s twitter profile the group describes itself as a Pittsburgh-based collective working to create a world that is free of destructive white privilege and oppression.

But the Pittsburgh police union was furious with the photo, saying the the chief had essentially called the entire Police Department “racist”.

FOP President Howard McQuillan told KDKA, “The chief is calling us racists. He believes the Pittsburgh Police Department is racist. This has angered a lot of officers.”

Police Chief Cameron McLay released the following statement about the allegations:

“I was hired to restore the legitimacy of the police department. I did not seek these young activists out. I was stopping for coffee at First Night. Their message is not anti-anybody. It is simply a call for awareness. The photo was a great, spontaneous moment in time. Please join dialogue for community healing.”

In the video above, Ben Swann talks with retired D.C. Metro Police Officer Ronald Hampton about this firestorm as well as the decision by NYPD officers to once again turn their backs on New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio.