The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #36 in South Bend is defending a local police officer heard on a recording quoting lines from the movie “Django Unchained” where KKK members were struggling to see through their hoods.

The recording was made during the arrest of Marko Mosgrove, last week, who was charged in connection with burglary and serious bodily injury, resisting and weapons charges after a shooting on East Calvert Street in early December.

After Mosgrove’s arrest, South Bend Police went into a home to conduct a search.

An officer made reference to a skull mask and the remark was made, according to the South Bend Tribune.

The FOP issued a statement saying the officer was simply making fun of himself and any suggestion that an investigation into the matter should be conducted is baseless.

Here is the FOP’s full statement:

The following statement can be attributed to Harvey Mills, president of the South Bend FOP Lodge:

We understand that, for example, if an officer were to use force for absolutely no reason that the city should investigate. But there’s no such obligation when an officer makes a dumb movie reference, making fun of himself. Critics who falsely claim that this was a racial joke or an endorsement of the KKK either haven’t watched the video or are too blinded by anti-police hatred to see the truth. On the recording, an officer made fun of himself and his inability to figure out his balaclava, with no one other than police officers in the room. I hope we haven’t reached a place where politics forces us into investigations over movie quotes. If this is the new norm, ‘we’re gonna need a bigger boat.’

Click to read the full story from the South Bend Tribune.