Judge Releases Photo Of Policemen Forcing A Black Man To Wear Antlers

An Illinois judge recently ordered the release of a photo showing two white police officers forcing a black suspect to get on his stomach while wearing deer antlers.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the photo was taken at a police station between 1999 and 2003 and was given to police investigators by federal prosecutors in 2013.

.@Chicago_Police didn't want you to see this photo of cops torturing a black man: http://t.co/tJs46wqjgo v @kimjnews pic.twitter.com/SL0aLMEqII — Chicago Rising (@ChicagoRising) May 27, 2015

The two officers in the photo were identified as Jerome Finnigan (left) and Timothy McDermott (right).

Last year, McDermott was fired over the photo following a 5-4 vote by the Chicago Police Board.

McDermott, who received 74 awards from the department throughout his career, is currently appealing his termination.

Finnigan is serving a 12-year prison sentence for his involvement in a gang of cops that committed robberies and home invasions.

In an interview with the FBI, Finnigan said the suspect was arrested for possession of "20 bags of weed" and gave them the rifles.

They let him go, however, because the man hadn't committed any serious crimes in the past.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy issued a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times, calling the photo "disgusting." He said,

...the despicable actions of these two former officers have no place in our police department or in our society. As the Superintendent of this department, and as a resident of our city, I will not tolerate this kind of behavior, and that is why neither of these officers works for CPD today. I fired one of the officers, and would have fired the other if he hadn't already been fired by the time I found out about the picture, which is why I fired the officer involved as soon as I learned about photo. Our residents deserve better than this, as do the thousands of good men and women in this department.

In a 2013 interview with the police department's Bureau of Internal Affairs, McDermott suggested Finnigan orchestrated the photo.

He told Sergeant Michael Barz,

Finnigan called me over, told me to get in the picture and I sat in the picture. The photo was taken, and I went back to the business I was doing that day.

McDermott went on to say he was "embarrassed" by the photo and only participated "to fit in."

His next court appearance is scheduled for June 10.

Citations: CPD cops posed for photo standing over black man dressed in antlers (Chicago Sun-Times)