The Philadelphia Police Department police officer pictured below is Officer Ian Hans Lichtermann of Northeast Philadelphia’s second precinct. Tattooed on Officer Lichtermann’s left forearm is the official insignia of Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party.
The pictures below were taken on July 26, 2016 at Philadelphia’s #BlackResistanceMarch. Held in the midst of the Democratic National Convention, the march was organized by a number of Philadelphia community organizations, most notably the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice and Workers World Party. The protest was held in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter and in opposition to the state oppression of Black people, poor people, and people of color. When photographed, Officer Lichtermann was part of a line of nearly one hundred police officers who were blocking entrance to a major city intersection.
The eagle of Nazi Germany, the Third Reich, and Officer Lichtermann’s tattoo is called the partieadler. With wings outstretched and a simplistic design, the partieadler is distinct from the national emblem in every other era of German history, a history that stretches from the reichsadler’s first appearance in the 12th century, to its present design. For comparison, the chronology of the German reichsadler is pictured below. (1)
In the midsection of Officer Lichtermann’s partieadler, though difficult to see in the included photos, is the Iron Cross. An old Prussian military award reinstituted by Adolph Hitler in 1939, the Iron Cross was an commendation given to members of Nazi Germany’s police and military. Adolph Hitler himself was a recipient of the Iron Cross. (2)
On Officer Lichtermann’s right forearm is an assault rifle in-laid over the flag of the United States. The assault rifle, the same weapon police used to kill Yuvette Henderson and Teo Valencia in the Bay Area (CA), is often aquired in mass by police departments through military decommission. (3) Under the flag of the United States and the AR-15 is the phrase “For God and Country,” the motto of the American Legion, a veterans organization.
In 2006, the counterterrorism division of the FBI released a report warning of the widespread infiltration of white supremacists in law enforcement. The report specifically references incidents in Los Angeles, Florida, Chicago, Cleveleand, and one Texas sherriff’s department where officers had been fired after their ties to white supremacists groups were discovered. (4) In 2015, the San Francisco Police Department fired seven officers after communications were discovered showing allegiances to white supremacists ideologies and expressing their desire to lynch Black folks. In 2016, the SFPD offered those officers their jobs back. (5) Since the FBI counterterrorism report was released in 2006, the amount of white supremacists groups has over quadruple. (6)
Call the Philadelphia Police 2nd Precinct and let them know employing a police officer with a white-supremacist, Nazi tattoo is unacceptable. Their number is 215-686-3020 and their Facebook is Philadelphia Police Department.
(1) Wikipedia entry on Reichsadler, accessed August 29, 2016
(2) The Guardian (UK), “Adolph Hitler a war hero? Anything but, said first world war comrades,” August 10, 2010,
(3) E’ville Eye “APTP Stokes AR-15 Debate by Hosting Public Forum in Emeryville,” December 24, 2015,
(4) FBI Counterterrorism Division, “White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement,” October 17, 2006,
(5) “SF cops who wrote racist text messages win court ruling,” SF Gate, December 21, 2015
(6) PBS Newshour, “As racial hate groups rise, strategies to shut them down,” March 25, 2016, Interview with Heidi Beirich, leader of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center,
Additional credits: Photos of Officer Lichtermann by Evan P. Matthews, photo of Adolph Hitler beneath reichadler copyrighted by newsteam accessed in "Fury at trendy fashion label's logo" by Daily Mail (UK), October 9, 2015
Philly Coalition for REAL Justice South Silly Joe Piette William Moody Ron Lester Whyte Anti Police-Terror Project BlackLivesMatter Berta Joubert-Ceci Frank Lara Cat Brooks Daniela Kantorová Forrest Schmidt Mollie McKinnon Costello Tom Waidzunas Jabari Shaw
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