Australian police have issued an apology after posting a tone-deaf TikTok video where an officer appears to stomp on someone with their boot.
Social media lit up when New South Wales Police shared the 10 second clip with the caption 'night shift hits different when Vivid is on'.
In the now-deleted video, an officer can be seen popping his police cap on as Jayden Smith’s ‘Icon’ plays in the background.
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He then places the camera on the ground providing a ‘worm’s-eye view’, as another female colleague emerges.
As the two cops look down the lens, one officer stomps his boot in front of the camera as part of a TikTok video transition.
And if you didn’t think this video could get any more, cringe. Guess again.
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The two police cops then pick up the camera and pose awkwardly together at Vivid, a light exhibition in Sydney, as the song continues to play.
But their 63,000 followers were not impressed by the short clip with many lashing out in the comments with comparisons of police assaults and brutality.
One person shared the hashtag for the Black Lives Matter movement, adding: “Police really felt this was a TikTok trend for them? Take the boot off [of] our necks."
A second said: “Like stomping on people's faces? Perhaps the police force is for you!”
A third person wrote: “Uh, why on earth would the NSW Police make a 'fun' TikTok that features the POV of someone getting stomped on by a policeman in boots?"
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Queensland Greens Senate candidate Ben Pennings also called out NSW Police over the clip.
“Art imitates life," he said on Twitter. He then added: "How about just stopping violence towards First Nations people, peaceful protesters, the homeless etc."
Following the spray of negative comments, NSW Police issued an apology.
"We’d like to acknowledge concerns raised by members of the community and apologise to anyone who may have been offended by the transition we used," they said, as per SBS.
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The apology was posted underneath the video, which has since been deleted.
News.com.au reports that the clip was viewed over 560,000 times in two days before it was taken down.
However, despite the backlash, some defended the video as one person wrote on Twitter: “There’s always someone who is offended. Give me a break.”
A few even poked fun at it. One user joked: "I have one pound of purple haze in my room."
A second added: "I’m out at Vivid breaching my bail (right now)."
Charisa Bossinakis