Charleston police officer fired after posting photo wearing Confederate flag boxer shorts to Facebook

The officer is able to appeal his termination within 10 days

(Facebook)

A police officer from North Charleston has been terminated after uploading a photograph of himself wearing Confederate flag boxer shorts to Facebook.

Shannon Dildine, the former officer, was issued a termination letter shortly after the photo went viral on social media. Eddie Driggers, the department’s police chief, said that the photo impaired the officer’s "ability to improve trust and instill confidence when working with our citizens," ABC4 reported.

"Your posting in this manner led to you being publicly identified as a North Charleston Police officer and associated both you and the Department with an image that symbolizes hate and oppression to a significant portion of the citizens we are sworn to serve," he wrote.

Mr Dildine, a nine year veteran, is able to appeal his firing within the next 10 days.

The firing comes nearly a week after confessed shooter Dylann Roof shot and killed nine black clergy members during Bible study at Charleston’s historically black African Methodist Episcopal Church. The 21-year-old was later revealed to have racist motives and glorified the Confederate flag's past ties to slavery and white supremacy.

The United States Department of Justice is pursuing hate crime and terrorism charges against the young shooter while major US companies such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Apple have banned the controversial flag from their marketplaces.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has made a push to remove the flag from State House grounds and plans to move forward with a ballot measure on July 6 to do so.