West Virginia corrections staff, cadets fired over photo of Nazi salute



More than 30 West Virginia corrections cadets and staff will be fired over a class photo in which the participants made the classic Nazi salute.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) reviewed and approved the recommended terminations from the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, according to a statement from his office.

“As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms,” Justice said in the statement. “I also said that this act needed to result in real consequences — terminations and dismissals. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated on my watch in any agency of State government.”

The report reviewed by the governor recommended the termination of an academy staff member and four academy instructors, who had knowledge of the photo and salute, and all cadets who participated.

The investigation found the gesture was used in the classroom within the first two or three weeks of training and symbolized a “sign of respect for Byrd,” the class instructor.

Byrd, whose first name is not provided, claimed she was not aware of the implications behind the salute, but other interviews contradicted that, saying she instructed the cadets to make it.

"The investigation disclosed that she encouraged it, reveled in it, and at times reciprocated the gesture," the report said. "Additionally, Byrd appeared to overrule the corrective actions taken by others and assured the cadets the behavior was acceptable."

The photo was reportedly taken multiple times because not everyone participated until Byrd instructed them to do so, and some cadets made a fist instead of the salute in an attempt to appease the instructor. The report recommended that every cadet be terminated because of the “far-reaching and harmful perceptions” of the gesture.

Byrd gave the photo to secretarial staff as part of regular procedure and told them to caption it "Hail Byrd," adding, "That's why they do that because I'm a hard-ass like Hitler."

Three people, two training instructors and one cadet were fired when the photo surfaced earlier this month.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch...-of-nazi-salute

Win for the good guys.

No comments. Typical. Can’t defend it but won’t stand up against it. Pfft the trump era.

I’m sure somebody will call this a nothing burger and claim people are just looking to be outraged.

I hate West Virginia Nazis.

Oscar Schindler made that hand gesture. Repeatedly, with no orders from his immediate superior from whom he was seeking employment.

Based on the simplistic, surface-level-only analysis most here engage in, I guess all the statues and monuments to Oscar Schindler should immediately be destroyed, he should be forever vilified, and playing the movie about his life, or watching it, should become a criminal act.

The fact is, you know nothing whatsoever about these people's mindset or expected performance. You simply saw something you thought you should get outraged about, and you did.

Just like Bill Maher is not a raging Islamophobe, it is very, very likely that few to none of these cadets being fired are actual Nazis, or have anything remotely approaching this mindset.

Now the woman who commanded the salute, appears to at least somewhat specifically admire Hitler, and calls herself a hardcase, has merely stepped outside standard, stereotypical gender roles and you all want her punished for this. How shamelessly misogynistic of you.

Slither back to your hole.

Nah, I am waiting for you to find two working brain cells to rub together and make something remotely resembling an intelligent comment.

Hey, I'm an eternal optimist.

Repeat - you know absolutely nothing about these people you are screaming to get fired. Zip, zero, zilch, nada.

Nelson, we've already established the fact that you have a limited IQ and suffer from narcissism... So if you want to play these games, go play with yourself.

where's Tusla, DC, and others?

they were so quick to post in the other thread. where you guys at? im guessing this is nothing, as well?

I don't know bro, but you can bet the right wing Nazi sympathizers will all show.

I know they were willing to raise their hands in a Nazi salute. I know they were willing to be photographed doing so. That to me shows me they have either Nazi sympathizer thoughts or are easily manipulated into doing wrong. Neither quality should be allowed in the military.
That’s all I need to know.

If you actually read the post, you would have noted that several of them were NOT willing to make the salute, even though ordered to do so by their immediate superior, when they were all seeking a job. That is coercion. In poor areas, like most of West Virginia, a very powerful level of coercion for unemployed folks.

Also, these are applicants for corrections officers, not related to the military.

You really think you know enough to say these folks, trying to get a job, are actually Nazi sympathizers? You don't see any rush to judgement, here?

so would you make the nazi salute if you were looking for a job?

Nelson...if these folks in the picture didn't have enough common sense to realize that it is wrong to make a Nazi salute...well, they know it now!

Sometimes people learn life's lessons the hard way.

JMHO, but I believe this Nazi crap has some roots in that area of the USA. I believe there were "willing participants" and this picture might be a hint to a much larger problem.

I bet the next class of cadets don't make a freaking Nazi Salute!

Maybe Trump will pardon them...justsayn

Why are these faces blurred?

I was under the impression that minors and innocents were given that treatment.

These people are adults and willing participants. They should be more than willing to own this portrait.

Show their faces.
Let them truly own this.

Was Oscar Schindler an evil man because he made that salute?

Since no one will address this concept, I will answer for you.

No, Oscar Schindler was, in fact, a very, very good man.

This means that not everyone who makes that salute is an evil person.

Much of West Virginia is desperately poor. These people are applying to be prison guards. A job with few required qualifications, and low status. But, it pays well and being government, has good long-term prospects.

Some people will say they would let their children go hungry rather than make a simple hand gesture which does not tie them to any particular thought process, other than their boss is a power-mad witch with delusions of grandeur. But, you don't dare touch on that aspect, do you?

I say such people are talking out their piehole, doing nothing more than posing and trumpeting their self-righteousness on a message board.

Is it objectionable? Sure it is. I don't like the weather today. But if I needed to deal with it to feed my family, I would shut up and do what the boss says I have to do. Just like these cadets did. No evidence the entire ideology associated with the gesture is involved in any way.

There is no sign of the Great All-Powerful Evil that many see in almost everything, in this case.

When you're comparing the weather to the Nazi salute you know you've lost the debate.

What you fail to understand is the importance of feeding your family. All other issues pale into insignificance.

If refusing to make a simple gesture, with NO OTHER accompanying action or belief, is enough to cause you to fail to feed your children, your lineage will not survive.

Feel free to put "but I won the debate" on the children's headstones.

Do you mean the headstones of those children slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps by those who gave the Nazi salute?

Y'all are getting sucked in... dude is disturbed.

Non answer = “sure would.” Self before country.

I just cannot understand these people. Nothing about this article makes any sense to me.