Police posed for group photo with captured prisoner in Pennsylvania

Law enforcement officials posed for a group photo with escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante following his arrest Wednesday morning.

In a video posted online, a couple dozen heavily armed law-enforcement agents wearing camouflaged protective suits are seen gathering around Cavalcante, who was handcuffed and in the center of the group. The visual was captured from an aerial view. 

The moment captured on video marked the end of a nearly two-week long manhunt for the convicted murderer, who escaped from Chester County jail on Aug. 31, one week after he was sentenced to life in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend. Cavalcante was accused of fatally stabbing her 38 times in 2021, in front of her two young children.

Cavalcante’s ability to evade capture exceeded officials’ expectations and put the Pennsylvania community on edge for two weeks. 

Still, the image of the law-enforcement agents posing with the captured murderer faced immediately backlash from some who said the move was in poor taste.

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, at a press conference Wednesday, defended the law enforcement officials for taking the photo op with Cavalcante, saying, “I’m not bothered at all” by it. 

“I'm aware that there was a photo op that was taken out there,” Bivens said when asked to explain the reasoning behind the photo op. “Those men and women work amazingly hard through some very trying circumstances. They're proud of their work.”

“I'm not bothered at all by the fact that they took a photograph with him in custody. Again, they're proud of their work, they kept the community safe. I say thanks to them and good job,” Bivens continued.