'Jihadi John' in 'P' hat sickens Pirates

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pittsburgh Pirates say it's "absolutely sickening" to see a photo of the Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John" wearing a Pirates hat.

Sky News published a photo Friday of Mohammed Emwazi, who officials say is the masked front man for Islamic State hostage-beheading videos. The photo, taken from University of Westminster student records, shows Emwazi wearing a hat with the Pirates' distinctive "P" logo.

The AP has been unable to verify the photo.

The Pirates said in a statement that it was sickening to everyone in the organization "to see this murderer wearing a Pirates cap in this old photo." The team says the gold "P" stands for Pittsburgh and is worn by players, coaches and fans with pride.

Several players spoke out about the picture Friday.

"He just probably wore it because it matched his outfit that he currently had on. I don't see him being a representation of what the Pirates and the Pirates organization is," infielder Sean Rodriguez told reporters, according to WTAE.com.

Added veteran Corey Hart: "My father-in-law is a captain in California. A lot of the gangs use different hats for different reasons. It could mean something to them, but it's definitely not affiliated with us. ... It's disgusting that those guys try to use our stuff in different ways, but that's what our armed forces are for, and hopefully they take care of it."

Emwazi was born in Kuwait, raised and educated in Britain, and is a computer science graduate.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.