The Denver Police Department terminated officer Thomas McClay, who posted a photo on Instagram with two other officers in riot gear with the caption, “Let’s start a riot.”

“The Denver Police Department initiated an Internal Affairs investigation into a social media post by Officer Thomas McClay,” the police department said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The Internal Affairs Investigation revealed that the officer violated the Department’s social media policy, posted content inconsistent with the values of the Department, and the officer has been terminated.”

Newly appointed public safety director Murphy Robinson, who is black, said he told police Chief Paul Pazen that he wanted the investigation carried out quickly, “and I wanted the accountability to happen swiftly.”

“However,” he told Colorado Politics in a phone interview, “it was the chief’s decision — which I support 100 percent — to terminate this individual based on his status.”

Mayor Michael Hancock also applauded Pazen’s decision.

“I … regret this occurred at a moment in time when we must all bring the very best of ourselves to meet the challenges before us,” Hancock said in a statement. “Thank you to the officers who are working to keep us all safe during this very difficult time.”

Pazen told Colorado Politics that McClay had only been in the police department for about a year.

In the Denver Police Department’s Operations Manual, which is issued to every employee, states in Section 110.06 that personnel may post on social media provided that “their speech and expression does not impair working relationships of this department for which loyalty and confidentiality are important, impede the performance of duties, impair harmony among coworkers, adversely impact the disciplinary process, or cause disruption to the department, or to any other city agency.”

The manual goes on to define such content that would be subject to limitations, including “speech and expression involving themselves or other department personnel reflecting behavior that would reasonably be considered reckless or irresponsible.”