More than 30 West Virginia corrections’ workers and cadets have been fired after a photo surfaced of them performing a Nazi salute.
Gov. Jim Justice, who said earlier this month such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated, announced on Monday that following a review of a report on the matter by the state’s Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, he approved the department’s recommendations that those in the photo and staff who knew about it be terminated.
“As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms,” said Justice in a statement.
The photo blurred the faces of the participants of the class, which took place from Oct. 21 to Nov. 27. Names of the employees are not identified.
A caption on the photo reads “Hail Byrd!” DMAPS spokesperson Lawrence Messina told The Washington Post that Byrd is a training instructor.
“We have a lot of good people in our Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. But this incident was completely unacceptable,” said Justice. “Now, we must continue to move forward and work diligently to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
