Pirates: Image of ‘Jihadi John’ in team cap is ‘absolutely sickening’

The Pittsburgh Pirates organization released a statement Friday expressing disgust after seeing a photo of the man who has been identified as the Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John” wearing a baseball cap bearing the team’s “P” logo.

Earlier in the day, British TV’s Sky News broadcast a photo of Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born West Londoner who is said to be the menacing masked figure featured in beheading videos.

According to the broadcast, the photo was taken several years ago when Emwazi was 18 years old and preparing to study computer programming at the University of Westminster. He is thought to now be in his mid-20s.

In the picture, he has facial hair above his lip and on his chin, appears to be wearing a white T-shirt and has an oversized, flat-billed Pirates hat on his head.

“The classic gold P stands for Pittsburgh and is worn by our players, coaches and fans with a great sense of pride,” the team said in its statement. “It is absolutely sickening to everyone within the Pirates organization, and to our great fans, to see this murderer wearing a Pirates cap in this old photo.”

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