Police ask Amazon to pull ‘murder’ T-shirt

AMAZON has been asked by the Police Federation to stop selling “offensive” T-shirts which bear the slogan “Blue Lives Murder”.

The online retailer has been accused of promoting hate by featuring the £17.95 tops which show a silhouette of a police officer beating a person with a baton.

The sale of the shirts, which are offered through third-party retailers, comes as the Black Lives Matter movement gathers momentum after the death of George Floyd. The 46-year-old black American was killed by a white policeman in Minneapolis last month.

John Apter, the Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales which represents rank and file officers, said the T-shirts were deeply insulting to his members.

He has written to the UK bosses of Amazon asking them to “do the right thing” and remove the items from sale immediately.

Mr Apter said: “In recent weeks we have rightly praised my colleagues for their outstanding bravery and courage and for saving lives. I was therefore disgusted to see these products being sold on an Amazon platform.

“These items are deeply offensive, not only to police officers but to many members of the public. I have raised this matter directly with the Home Secretary and she is as appalled as the entire police family is about these products. On behalf of the 120,000 police officers we represent, I have written to the managing director of Amazon calling on the company to stop the sale of the T-shirts on their platform.

“The ball is now firmly in Amazon’s court and I am asking the company to do the right thing and remove them from sale immediately.”

A petition that was launched to demand the withdrawal of the T-shirts has attracted almost 40,000 signatures.

A statement accompanying the petition read: “It’s unfair, unjust and offensive to stereotype someone because of their profession and because of the limited number of bad cops.”

‘These items are deeply offensive not only to police officers but to many members of the public’