NASHVILLE (AP) - Authorities say a veteran Metro Nashville police officer has been suspended for posting a Black Panthers photo as the profile picture on his personal Facebook page.

The police department confirmed to news outlets that Officer Christopher Taylor was decommissioned Monday after he posted a famous photo of Black Panther National Chairman Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, both of whom are shown armed.

Decommissioning is a non-punitive, administrative action in which an officer's policing authority is temporarily suspended, pending an investigation.

It is unclear whether Taylor posted the photo before or after last week's police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the retaliatory killings of five police officers by a black sniper in Dallas.

Taylor, an 11-year veteran with the department, said the image is related to his interest in history. He has since removed it.