The Denver Police Department (DPD) has fired one of its officers over a controversial Instagram post.

The controversy began on Sunday (May 31), when Officer Thomas McClay posted a photo of himself and two colleagues posing in riot gear on the social media platform, with the caption "let's start a riot."

The post went viral after someone posted a screenshot of the image to Reddit, prompting the DPD to launch an internal investigation into the incident.

Courtesy of Reddit
Officer McClay's Instagram post. Courtesy of Reddit.
loading...

Following the investigation, the department decided to fire McClay on Tuesday (June 2), stating on Twitter that his actions were  "inconsistent with the values of the Department."

According to The Denver Channel, the DPD has reassigned the other officers seen in the photo, meaning that they will no longer be working at Denver's protests.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

More From 99.9 KEKB - Grand Junction's Favorite Country