Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., is asking the architect of the Capitol if a controversial painting depicting police as animals should be allowed on display, The Hill reports.
The painting, which hangs in a tunnel connecting the Capitol and two House office buildings, has been the center of a war between some members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Republicans.
GOP House members have repeatedly removed the painting, which features a confrontation between a protester depicted as a black panther and two police officers who resemble feral pigs. But Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., keeps putting in back on the wall, the website noted.
Clay represents the town of Ferguson, where a white police officer shot a black teenager in 2014, touching off bitter protests. David Pulphus, one of her constituents, won first place for the painting in an art competition between House member offices. Contest entries are displayed in the tunnel for a year, according to the website.
"The artwork's depiction of law enforcement as animals shooting citizens is both sensationalistic and gruesome in nature," The Hill reports Reichert, a former sheriff, wrote to the architect's office.
"I respectfully request that you review (the painting) and using the rules and regulations of the competition make a determination on its qualifications to hang in the Capitol."
Fox News reports that one law enforcement group has called the painting "reprehensible, repugnant and repulsive."
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., wants officials to replace it with as poster of all the names of police officers who have been shot or killed, according to the news network.
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