Denison, IA police chief admits controversial images belonged to - KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and Sports

Denison, IA police chief admits controversial images belonged to him, claims they were stolen from personal computer

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DENISON, Iowa (KTIV) -

Denison, Iowa's police chief has admitted that the controversial memes, and images, that sparked a protest last week, were his.

But, John Emswiler says the images were from his personal work computer, were never meant for public view, and were stolen.

Former police officer Ray Ohl, and Officer Bradley Wendt, who's on administrative leave from the department, brought the images to the attention of city leaders. He claims most of the photo-shopped pictures were from 2008, or earlier. He says a majority of the memes were from prior to 2010.

Emswiler claims a majority of the images were shared with the individuals that were in the pictures, and were intended as "private jokes". Emswiler doesn't know when the images were stolen. But, in a press release, he said the images surfaced after Ohl was fired, and Wendt was placed on leave.

Mayor Daniel Leinen investigated the images, and disciplined Emswiler, who remains the chief of police.

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