By Police1 Staff
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan called a painting of a cop depicted as a pig “disgusting” and said it doesn’t benefit the Capitol during a radio interview Thursday.
The painting, which has caught national attention, was rehanged three times after opposing lawmakers removed it, CNN reported.
“This isn’t a question of First Amendment rights. Of course this young person has the right to do something like this wherever they want to,” Ryan said. “But we do have rules that govern these paintings, so it’s not as if you have a constitutional right to hang whatever you want in the House hallway in the Capitol gallery.”
He said he is confident the painting will come down permanently.
Rules for Capitol artwork state that art that contains “contemporary political controversy or a sensationalistic or gruesome nature” is not allowed.
Fox News Reporter Chad Pergram posted a photo on Twitter Thursday of a thin blue line flag that someone hung above the painting.
A Blue Lives Matter flag is now afixed to the wall above the controversial pigs as police painting on Capitol Hill pic.twitter.com/w8xcWHpBEm
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 12, 2017