TriMet is investigating whether an employee placed a hand-made Make America Great Again sign in a MAX train cab's window Monday evening.

The transit agency confirmed it first received a complaint through Twitter.

Gregory McKelvey, a founder of the Portland Resistance activist group, shared the image on Twitter Monday, and said the photo was taken near Skidmore Fountain around 8 p.m. McKelvey did not take the photo, and The Oregonian/OregonLive couldn't reach the photographer.

@trimet why do you have max operators with MAGA signs in their window? Is this an endorsement of the over policing of poor people and PoC on your transportation? pic.twitter.com/tk5q6K7LMB — Gregory McKelvey (@GregoryMcKelvey) June 12, 2018

The picture shows "MAGA" written on what appears to be a piece of carboard centered directly above a TriMet logo in the train's cab.

MAGA is President Trump's campaign slogan.

Roberta Altstadt, TriMet's communications manager, said the investigation is ongoing. "While TriMet values freedom of speech, our Human Resources policy directs employees that they cannot be involved in political activity while on the job," she said in an email.

If an employee did place the sign, Altstadt said any discipline would be handled by the employee's managers.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen