Philadelphia Police Will Investigate Officer’s Nazi-Style Tattoo

Image by Twitter
The Philadelphia police department is looking into an image circulating on Twitter of an officer with what looks like a Nazi-style tattoo on his forearm.
In a statement posted on Facebook, police officials said that the image has been sent to the department’s internal affairs unit for review. The department has no policy on the display of tattoos by officers.
“The Department does not condone anything that can be interpreted as offensive, hateful or discriminatory in any form,” officials said in their statement. “This is a very sensitive topic for both the citizens that we serve as well as the officers providing service to the public.“
.@PPDCommish hi can you please explain why one of your officers, ian hans lichtermann, has a nazi tattoo on him? thx pic.twitter.com/CK9nAuiCGW
— mindy isser (@mindyisser) September 1, 2016
The photo, first posted to Twitter on Thursday morning, shows an officer in a bike helmet and shirtsleeves with the word “Fatherland” in gothic script across his left forearm. The top of angular black eagle is visible beneath the lettering.
An angular black eagle gripping a swastika is a Nazi symbol which the Anti-Defamation League describes in its hate symbols database as having been “appropriated by neo-Nazis and other white supremacists worldwide.” No swastika is visible on the officer’s arm.
Police union officials dismissed concerns about the officer’s tattoo in a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I’ve seen it. It’s an Eagle,” Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 president John McNesby told the Inquirer. “Not a big deal.”
The Inquirer reported that the photo was taken at a July protest during the Democratic National Convention.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.