by Charlie Wolfson and Juliette Rihl, PublicSource
Pittsburgh police Lt. Philip Mercurio once signed up to join the far-right, anti-government militia group the Oath Keepers, according to a USA Today report.
The Oath Keepers, founded in 2009 to protect its members’ rights from what it viewed as a tyrannical government, is now under intense scrutiny for its role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Cara Cruz, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Public Safety, confirmed that Mercurio is on the city’s force and said the Office of Municipal Investigations is investigating the matter. Pending the investigation, he has been reassigned to an “administrative assignment.”
Rolling Stone first reported last week that a Pittsburgh Police officer used their city email address to sign up for the group. Cruz said the email address was in a format last used by city employees at least a decade ago.
Mercurio was first hired by the city in 1988, according to public records. He did not reply to requests for comment. USA Today reported that Mercurio hung up on its reporter.
A spokesperson for Mayor Bill Peduto confirmed that the city has launched a “comprehensive investigation” but made no other comment.
Mayor-elect Ed Gainey said he would not tolerate having an officer tied to an extremist group. “You can’t uphold your position if you believe that people who don’t look like you are bad, or wrong, or should be discriminated against. There’s no room in our police bureau where we want that type of cop. That’s not the police officer that we want. My administration won’t tolerate that.”
Gainey acknowledged that state law makes firing officers difficult but called the issue a “public relations nightmare” for the police.
A police van parked at Moore Park in the Brookline neighborhood of Pittsburgh. (Photo by Jay Manning/PublicSource)
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