Medford Police Officer Jason Montalbano apologized Wednesday for sharing a graphic on Facebook that incites violence against Muslims.

“I did not intend to demean Islam or Muslims in general, nor do I personally harbor any ill will towards Islam or Muslims in general,” Montalbano told reporters at a press conference inside the Medford Police Training Academy.

The department was investigating a post Montalbano shared on his personal profile Jan. 9 that contains an image of a mushroom cloud and a reference to the United States’ atomic bombing of Japan in World War II.

Text above the image reads, “JAPAN HAS BEEN AT PEACE WITH THE USA SINCE SEPTEMBER 2, 1945,” referencing the date of Japan’s surrender less than a month after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Below the image reads, “IT’S TIME WE MADE PEACE WITH ISLAM.”

Montalbano attempted to clarify the message he intended to send with the post.

“When I first saw the post on another site, I took it as targeting [terrorist organization] ISIS,” he said. “My intention of posting it on my private Facebook page was to support aggressive military action against the ISIS terrorist threat.”

In retrospect, Montalbano said he understands the reference to Islam was “inappropriately overbroad and offensive to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.”

“I sincerely apologize,” Montalbano concluded, “not for my intended message, but for my carelessness and the inappropriate way in which the message was transmitted.”

Medford Police Chief Leo A. Sacco Jr. told the Transcript the department was examining Montalbano’s post, which was posted Tuesday in a story posted to the Transcript’s website.

Montalbano has been placed on administrative leave, pending an internal investigation into the matter.

Montalbano’s lawyer, Alan McDonald, lamented the fact his client was not able to clarify his intentions before the story ran.

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“Quite frankly, I wish that the reporter for the Transcript had come to Officer Montalbano before he printed his story, so that Officer Montalbano could have clarified better for him and maybe we wouldn’t be here today,” McDonald said. “That never happened.”

Two phone messages left for Montalbano at the Medford Police Department had not been returned as of the Transcript’s March 15 afternoon print deadline.

McDonald said Montalbano has been an exemplary officer in 18 years with the department.

“If you look at his record with the city of Medford Police Department, you will find no evidence whatsoever of any hostility or discrimination against Muslims or any other religious or ethnic group,” McDonald said. “He’s been a model patrol officer and his record speaks for itself.”

Asked about sensitivity training going forward, Medford Police Patrolmen’s Association President Harry MacGilvray said the union will be meeting with the department over the next several weeks and the department will meet with various community groups “to bring this situation to resolution.”

MacGilvray also said he believes the department’s social media policy is sufficiently clear, before adding: “This was not on-duty. This was a private Facebook page.”

Medford Police instituted a social networking policy in January 2014 that mostly covers material that could jeopardize police investigations if shared publicly.

However, the policy states the following purpose: “In order to ensure the optimum level of professional and public confidence in the Medford Police Department, it is absolutely necessary that the integrity of the department remain beyond reproach in any and all circumstances.”