Controversial Painting On Capitol Hill Sparks War Between Republicans, Democrats

WASHINGTON, DC — Democratic lawmakers are calling for the arrest of a Republican congressman who took down a controversial painting on Capitol Hill depicting a police officer as a pig.

Democratic lawmakers have tried to put the painting back on display twice, but their GOP colleagues have continually taken it down. In the latest confrontation, Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri, pictured above, and other Democrats urged the Capitol Police to press charges against Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California, for removing the artwork and then returning it to Clay's office. The artwork was created by one of Clay's constituents.

The painting shows a violent scene of civil unrest that was inspired by the events in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown's death there in 2014. Several figures in the painting are depicted as animals, and pro-police activists argue that one officer appears to look like a pig, a term that police advocates find offensive.

It is one of 435 artworks that hang in the underground tunnel between the Capitol and the Cannon House Office Building as part of a national art competition. Republican lawmakers have demanded its removal, and Hunter decided to do it himself.

Clay and other Democrats re-hung the painting on Tuesday. He said that the artist, David Pulphus, has a family that is "full of police officers," and furthermore there was no reason to respect police officers who "do animalistic things to people," according to a Washington Post report.

Hunter reportedly said that the incident was nothing personal against Clay, and he wasn't concerned about any police action.

You can view the painting below.

To review:

-Painting went up in June

-Hunter takes it down on 1/6

-Clay rehangs at 10 am

-Lamborn takes it down

-Clay puts it back up pic.twitter.com/HZ5qWP3Vpq
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 10, 2017

#BREAKING Cong Black Caucus rehangs controversial painting depicting police as pigs after Rep Hunter removed it pic.twitter.com/4kt5Fov1RA
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 10, 2017

Image via U.S. House of Representatives