West Virginia Governor fires correctional cadets for ‘completely unacceptable’ Nazi salute photo

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced today that he has received and reviewed the official report completed by the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety related to the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Academy Class 18 and has approved the recommendations submitted by DMAPS Secretary Jeff Sandy.

“I have reviewed the factual information regarding this incident that was provided by Secretary Sandy, and have approved all of his recommendations,” Gov. Justice said. “I expressed my thanks to him and the entire Department for quickly getting this report done.

“As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms. 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.

“We have a lot of good people in our Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. But this incident was completely unacceptable. Now, we must continue to move forward and work diligently to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”​

The firings come at the recommendation of West Virginia Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy. In addition to the firings, Sandy recommenced four academy instructors be suspended without pay. Two academy instructors and a cadet were previously fired as a result of the incident.

The photo shows the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Basic Training Class #18, from October and November, giving a straight-arm salute. The photo also has a line of text that reads, “Hail Byrd,” a reference to an “Instructor Byrd,” according to the investigation.

“There is no dispute that the ‘Hail Byrd’ gesture and photograph were highly offensive and egregious in appearance, but the investigation did not reveal any overt motivation or intent that this was a discriminatory act towards any racial, religious, or ethic group,” the overview of the investigation says.

“Rather, contributing factors included poor judgment, ignorance, peer pressure, and fear of reprisal.”