NYPD's 24th Precinct recently fled from the scene of its original Twitter post, praising an officer that was wearing a Punisher-themed mask while on duty.The post was taken down within 24 hours due to an onslaught of citizens on Twitter, expressing outrage and sadness over the tweet since the Punisher/Frank Castle is one of Marvel's most violent and deranged anti-heroes, as reported by NY Daily News.
The post was intended to congratulate two officers -- shown above -- publicly for their work on arresting someone who had an outstanding warrant for a past robbery. The original tweet read, "After observing a traffic infraction, @NYPD24Pct’s PO Kite & PO Rodriguez conducted a car stop, which led to a foot pursuit & an arrest. It turns out that the suspect was operating a stolen vehicle & wanted for a past robbery. Great work."In the photo, the officer on the right is seen wearing a mask with a thin blue line drawn across the Frank Castle/Punisher's iconic skull logo. The acronym DILLIGAF, which stands for "Does It Look Like I Give a F**k" is written across the skull. The thin blue line is a logo often used to refer to the idea that without police officers holding their thin blue line, society would descend into chaos. The combination of Castle's homicidal alter-ego's logo, with the blue line and the acronym, sends an overall message that seems more violent than protective to citizens.Frank Castle is a renegade United States Marine-turned-murderous vigilante that never allied with police. In Netflix's The Punisher, the character famously said, "I don't give a s**t about the NYPD," to drive home that he takes justice into his own hands, no matter the bloody consequences, which makes police officer's ongoing co-opting of his logo seem misplaced.Gerry Conway, co-creator of The Punisher, has a long history of speaking out against police officers' use of Castle as an icon. When asked for comment on this newest incident, he told NY Daily News, "Just quote me audibly sighing." Recently, he also posted a GIF reply on Twitter.
In 2019, Conway called the use of The Punisher's logo by police a "disgrace" in an interview with SYFY Wire. He elaborated by saying, "My point of view is, the Punisher is an anti-hero, someone we might root for while remembering he's also an outlaw and criminal. If an officer of the law, representing the justice system puts a criminal's symbol on his police car, or shares challenge coins honoring a criminal he or she is making a very ill-advised statement about their understanding of the law."
Source: NY Daily News, Twitter, SYFY Wire