In a story that is rapidly going viral, some 30 correctional officer trainees in West Virginia will be fired following the disclosure of a photograph that shows them in what looks like a Nazi salute. WV Governor Jim Justice says he had approved a recommendation to fire the trainees.
His statement followed an investigation into the episode, which found that the trainees had made the gesture multiple times in the classroom and that an instructor had told students to make the gesture in the photograph.
The students in the picture were apparently in a basic training class for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The words “Hail Byrd!” appeared at the top of the photograph; a spokesman for the state’s Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the phrase was a reference to one of the trainees’ instructors.
What is going on in this country?