The state\u02bcs governor released the results of an investigation into a photo and said he had approved the termination of the roughly 30 correctional
\ntrainees who appeared in it.
\nBy Jacey Fortin
\nDec. 31, 2019, 12:59 p.m. ET
\nAbout 30 correctional officer trainees in West Virginia will be terminated after a photograph captured them raising their hands in what appeared to be a Nazi salute,
\naccording to Gov. Jim Justice, who said in a statement that he had approved a recommendation to fire the trainees.
\nThe statement on Monday followed an investigation into the episode, which found that the trainees had made the gesture multiple times in the classroom and that an
\ninstructor had told students to make the gesture in the photograph.
\nThe students were part of a basic training class for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The words \u201cHail Byrd!\u201d appeared at the top of the
\nphotograph; a spokesman for the state\u2019s Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the phrase was a reference to one of the trainees\u2019 instructors.
\nWest Virginia Will Fire
\nCorrections Cadets for Doing Nazi
\nSalute
\nU.S.
\nThe report identified the instructor by her last name, Byrd. According to a training schedule obtained by West Virginia Public Broadcasting this month, an instructor
\nnamed Karrie Byrd taught trainees on various subjects including use of force, correctional documentation and cultural diversity.
\nThe military affairs department said this month that one cadet in the basic training class and two correctional academy trainers \u2014 one of whom took the picture \u2014
\nhad been fired, and that an investigation was underway.
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\nThe cadets in the photo were state employees and had been suspended without pay.
\nBetsy Jividen, the commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, presented the findings of the investigation to Jeff Sandy, the
\nsecretary of the state\u2019s military affairs department, on Friday.
\nIn a letter to Governor Justice, Mr. Sandy recommended the termination of one more staff member, the suspension of four instructors who had failed to report the
\nphotograph, and the \u201ctermination of all cadets participating in the openhanded salute and the closed fist salute in the class photograph.\u201d
\nIn his statement on Monday, Mr. Justice said he had approved those recommendations.
\nA basic training class from the West Virginia Division of Corrections and
\nRehabilitation. The photo was provided to The New York Times with the employees\u2019
\nfaces already blurred. West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety
\nU.S.
\n\u201cThis incident was completely unacceptable,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, we must continue to move forward and work diligently to make sure nothing like this ever happens
\nagain.\u201d
\nThe report said that multiple students and instructors were aware that the gesture was inappropriate, \u201cbut the investigation did not reveal any overt motivation or
\nintent that this was a discriminatory act towards any racial, religious, or ethnic group.\u201d
\nThe president of the union that represents West Virginia correctional officers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
\nThe hand gesture performed by the students was used in Nazi Germany to salute Adolf Hitler, and it endures as a symbol of anti-Semitism and racism. The report
\nsaid that while trainees began doing the gesture during the second or third week of their academy session in what some called a \u201csign of respect\u201d for Ms. Byrd,
\nseveral recognized the gesture\u2019s \u201chistorical implications\u201d and refused to participate with the rest of the class.
\n\u201cOthers who knew the implications of the gesture felt pressure to fit in and joined in,\u201d the report said. \u201cSome of these class members voiced their concerns to
\nclassmates. Those voicing concerns were assured by those comfortable with the gesture, that since there was no racial motivation on their part, the gesture was
\nacceptable.\u201d
\nThe report said that two other instructors saw students use the gesture and reprimanded the class. \u201cOne of these instructors was rebuked by a student who stood up
\nin defense of himself and the other cadets making the gesture and said, \u02bbLook at me I am black, and I am doing it,\u2019\u201d the report said. \u201cThis student was recognized as
\none of the informal class leaders.\u201d
\nMs. Byrd was aware of objections to the salute, but she did not stop the behavior and instead \u201cencouraged it, reveled in it, and at times reciprocated the gesture,\u201d the
\nreport said, adding that she told the trainees to make the gesture for their class photo, which was to be distributed in a graduation packet.
\n\u201cTen of the cadets reported they did not make the gesture until Byrd told them to,\u201d the report added. \u201cThese cadets stated that they only did it at that time due to
\nfear of not graduating for disobeying the direction of an instructor. Seven of those cadets, in order to comply with Byrd\u2019s direction but not make the gesture, held up
\na closed fist.\u201d
\nThe class photograph was sent to a secretary at the academy, who asked Ms. Byrd what the students were doing in the picture.
\n\u201cByrd responded with, \u02bbLook there is nothing wrong with it, we have people of all colors and backgrounds in the picture and every one of them are participating,\u2019\u201d
\nthe report said. \u201cThe secretary stated that Byrd directed her to caption the picture \u02bbHail Byrd.\u2019 The secretary remarked that Byrd told her, \u02bbThat\u2019s why they do that,
\nbecause I\u2019m a hard-ass like Hitler.\u2019\u201d
\nThe secretary and two other instructors told Capt. Annette Daniels-Watts \u2014 who has also been listed as an instructor for trainees \u2014 that the photo was offensive, the
\nreport said. It added that Captain Daniels-Watts said the photo was \u201chorrible.\u201d
\n\u201cDespite her own feelings of the picture, as well as those shared by the secretary and the two instructors, Daniels-Watts never addressed Byrd, had the pictures
\npulled from the packets, or reported the situation to her supervisor,\u201d it added.
\nMs. Byrd and Captain Daniels-Watts are no longer employed by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Lawrence Messina, a spokesman for the military
\naffairs department. He added that the trainees are Civil Service employees who have rights under state law that allow them to challenge the terminations.
\nIn his letter to the governor, Mr. Sandy acknowledged that some of the trainees had been uncomfortable with the hand gesture. \u201cNonetheless, their conduct, without
\nquestion, has also resulted in the far-reaching and harmful perceptions that are the antithesis of the values we strive to attain,\u201d he said.
\nU.S.
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