Over 30 West Virginia Prison Guard Trainees Suspended Over Nazi Salute Photo
A photo taken by graduates of a West Virginia prison training course doing the Nazi salute. Image by Office of the Governor of West Virginia
(JTA) — More than 30 employees of West Virginia’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation have been suspended over a photo showing trainees making a Nazi salute.
The photo of dozens of participants in a basic training class reads “Hail Byrd!” at the top, a reference to a training instructor for the class.
Two correctional academy trainers and a cadet from the class shown in the picture were fired, The Washington Post reported.
The class was conducted Oct. 21 through Nov. 27, local news station WCHS reported.
“It is distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive and completely inappropriate,” West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy said of the photo 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 has not said how or when the photo came to his attention.
He also said that faith and community leaders were informed of the incident and were asked for their help to address it, including recommending changes or additions to the training program.
It was released by the department with the faces of the trainees and others in the photo blurred.
Division of Corrections Commissioner Betsy Jividen ordered all copies of the photo be destroyed or otherwise taken out of circulation, according to WCHS.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
