Several West Virginia corrections’ workers have been suspended for performing a Nazi salute after a photo surfaced showing more than 30 students in a basic-training class doing so.
Gov. Jim Justice said such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated.
“I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class #18 in the strongest possible terms,” he told The Washington Post on Thursday. “I have directed Secretary Jeff Sandy of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety [DMAPS] to continue actively investigating this incident, and I have ordered the termination of all those that are found to be involved in this conduct.”
The governor was briefed on the incident by Sandy, who announced the suspensions in a letter to corrections employees on Wednesday.
“It is distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive and completely inappropriate,” Sandy wrote in a memo obtained by the Post. “It betrays the professionalism I have seen time and time again displayed and practiced by our brave correctional employees.”
Sandy didn’t mention when or how he knew about the photo.
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 Post that Byrd is a training instructor.
