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In the wake of dozens of Corrections Academy trainees seen in a photograph appearing to give a Nazi salute, which led to dozens of firings and widespread outrage, West Virginia plans to begin training its corrections department staff about the Holocaust, officials said Tuesday.
A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety told The Associated Press that the leader of the regional Anti-Defamation League chapter has agreed to draft the training materials and coursework. He said the agency is “committed to taking all steps necessary to accomplish this.”
The move comes a day after Gov. Jim Justice announced that more than 30 trainees seen in the photo were being fired, along with their instructor. He made the announcement after a report was released detailing how the instructor “reveled” in the salute, and encouraged the class to perform the gesture. Four other instructors are being suspended without pay.
“As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms,” Justice, a Republican, wrote in a statement released by his office Monday. “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.”
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Multiple people have been either fired or suspended in connection with a photo that appeared to show corrections trainees giving a Nazi salute. (West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety)
The photograph, released publicly earlier this month, showed more than 30 trainees with their arms raised in a salute. The caption “Hail Byrd!” — a reference to the trainees’ instructor, Karrie Byrd — is visible above the group.
The state-released summary of its internal investigation found that an unspecified number of trainees began using the gesture early on in their training “as a sign of respect” for Byrd.
Soon after, other class members also began flashing the salute.
Byrd, who taught the course on “Cultural Diversity,” told investigators that she was “completely unaware of the historical or racial implications of the gesture and reported it was simply a greeting,” according to the summary.
The investigation lists multiple sources contradicting Byrd’s statements. Two other instructors told Byrd and the class that the gesture was racist but Byrd said there was nothing wrong with it, according to the report.
“The gesture was done with Byrd’s knowledge,” the document read. “The investigation disclosed that she encouraged it, reveled in it, and at times reciprocated the gesture. Additionally, Byrd appeared to overrule the corrective actions taken by others and assured the cadets the behavior was acceptable.”
Byrd eventually directed her class to use the hand gesture while taking a photo of the group, though the image had to be taken several times because not everyone was giving the salute, the report said. It added that after 10 members resisted, Byrd explicitly directed them to give the gesture. Seven of those cadets told investigators they made a fist so as to appear to comply with Byrd’s demand but not directly mimic a Nazi salute — which can be seen in the photo released.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Monday approved the termination of dozens of Corrections Academy trainees seen in a photograph appearing to give a Nazi salute. (REUTERS/Al Drago)
After the image was taken, a secretary asked Byrd what the class was doing, the report said. State investigators wrote Byrd responded with, “Look, there is nothing wrong with it, we have people of all colors and backgrounds in the picture and every one of them are participating.” Byrd then told the secretary to caption the image “Hail Byrd,” and said “that’s why they do that because I’m a hardass like Hitler.”
Ultimately, investigators determined the cadets displayed “poor judgment” but concluded no one who participated in the gesture was being discriminatory.
The report concluded: “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 ethnic group.”
Byrd made a little more than $36,000 from the state in 2018, according to the most recently available employee compensation records.
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A voicemail message from the AP could not be left at a phone number listed for Byrd in public records.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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