Mike Pence deletes Twitter photo with a sheriff deputy wearing far-right conspiracy theory patch

Vice president Mike Pence has deleted a tweet that he posted on Friday of himself alongside a sheriff's deputy sporting a patch of a far-right conspiracy theory.

The individual, who is reportedly from Florida was wearing a QAnon logo on his uniform. QAnon is a pro-Trump conspiracy theory which is prominent on the controversial 4chan forum.

Pence, who was meeting the sheriff and his deputies outside of Air Force Two shared the image in a tweet with two other pictures where he complimented the members of the team for their hard work.

A report from BuzzFeed states that the tweet was removed after they reached out to the White House to ask Pence's office about the image.

It was eventually replaced with a tweet on Saturday bearing the same wording but without the image in question.

Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch also shared the image on Twitter and reported that the patch is currently available for purchase on Amazon.

BuzzFeed added that a spokesperson for Pence informed them that the image was deleted after they were informed what the patch represented and as "not to draw attention to the baseless conspiracy theory."

The deputy in the picture has been identified by Miami New Times as Sgt. Matt Patten, a veteran of the Broward County Sheriff's Office who had been commended for his "excellence" in "anti-terrorism, training and civic education."

Veda Coleman-Wright, a spokesperson for the office told Miami New Times that they were unaware that he was wearing the patch when meeting Pence and added:

The patch is not authorized by BSO. This matter will be addressed immediately.

QAnon communities have been banned from Reddit and apps featuring their bizarre stories have also been pulled from the Apple App Store.

The theory is based around a character called 'Q' who is believed to be a secretive government agent with a high-level security clearance and has claimed that Trump will soon expose several deep state agents who are guilty of a string of offences including child trafficking.

The image and the officer wearing the patch have been strongly condemned on Twitter, with others also criticising its deletion.

HT BuzzFeed

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