Tag: Nazi Salute

According to incident logs compiled by West Virginia officials, corrections employees received threats after last month’s release of a blurred photo showing a training class giving an apparent Nazi salute. But not all of the logged incidents show threats of violence against corrections officers. 

On Dec. 5, state officials first released a redacted photo of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Basic Training Class #18. In that photo, many of the cadets are shown giving an apparent Nazi salute.

At a Dec. 6 news conference, Gov. Justice and Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Sec. Jeff Sandy said they would not yet release an unredacted version of the photo or the identities of those involved because of threats made against corrections staff.

A log of incidents related to the photo, provided to West Virginia Public Broadcasting as part of a public records request under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, documents phone calls made to the training academy and other corrections facilities, social media posts and verbal threats of violence made toward corrections staff. The log shows 13 separate incidents were reported between Dec. 5 and Dec. 9 but does not indicate to whom they were directed.

In one incident, officers at the St. Marys Correctional Center notified their superintendent of apparent threats on Dec. 6. The unnamed officers “expressed concerns about getting harsh comments on social media, even death threats,” according to the incident log. 

Another incident, documented on Dec. 7, indicates a person called the DCR Ops Center and stated “watch your backs at 1100.”

Two other incidents were reported on Dec. 8 by employees of the Central Regional Jail who received text messages that read: “We are coming for you.”

Other documented incidents do not provide specific threats of violence but show attempts to identify the cadets or indicate denouncements of white supremacy.

One such incident documented as a threat pointed to an effort by progressive journalist Shaun King and others to identify cadets on social media.

“While reviewing ‘social media privacy,’ [NAME REDACTED] came across social media accounts (Twitter) shaming the academy class #18. The Twitter accounts are @shaunking and @dickandsharon. Shaun King (Journalist) has photos of those who were in the class without the blurred faces, posted it on social media and other (sic) posted the cadet names in the comment section,” reads the description of one incident. 

King – who has more than a million Twitter followers – is a writer and activist who focuses on issues related to race and social justice. In 2019, King founded The North Star, an online publication named after the 19^th century anti-slavery newspaper published by abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

In a column labeled “Notes” under the same incident, state officials documented that there was “an active movement to find DCR employee social media accounts pertaining to academy class #18.” 

Another documented incident included a Dec. 6 phone call to the Corrections Academy. Logs show an academy employee received a call from “a male, who was irate.” The log goes on to note that the man “called DCR obscene names.”

“You all need to fire those racist ass cops. We defeated Nazism in the forties. What the f*** are they doing,” the man said, according to the log. 

Last week, Gov. Jim Justice said he approved the firing of the entire cadet class, as well as others involved in the training program. State officials have not yet released an unredacted version of the photo or the identities of those involved.

A spokesman for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for additional information about how the threats were logged. 

While state officials are still not identifying the West Virginia corrections officer trainees during a pending  investigation into a photo showing many in the class giving an apparent Nazi salute, public records shed some light on other aspects of the training program — including one trainer who has been a focal point of the controversy.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting obtained the information about the training program through a public records request to the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. 

A redacted version of the photo, which was released last week, shows 31 members of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Basic Training Class #18 seated in rows giving what appears to be a Nazi salute. 

The photo includes the state seal and the insignia for the DOCR, and is captioned “Hail Byrd,” which state officials have said is a reference to a class instructor.

According to a training schedule provided to West Virginia Public Broadcasting as part of the records request, one instructor is listed as “Ms. Karrie Byrd” — the only person on the document with that last name.

The schedule, which reflects the training for Class #18 between Oct. 21 and Nov. 27, 2019, shows that Byrd served as instructor on various subjects, including “Cultural Diversity.”

Another document provided to West Virginia Public Broadcasting as part of the public records request shows the work assignments for Basic Training Class #18. Many of them were placed as corrections officers in the state’s regional jails and other corrections facilities, while one was placed as a cook and another as a counselor. DMAPS officials confirmed at least 28 of the individuals in the photo worked between 21.75 and 63.5 regular hours between Nov. 27 and Dec. 5.

Requests for copies of the unredacted photo and a list of cadets from Class #18 were denied. Legal counsel for DMAPS cited concerns about the right to privacy and an exemption related to internal memoranda. 

“A number of these requests have been denied due to the need to have a through [sic] and complete investigation,” DMAPS deputy secretary and general counsel Thomas Kirk wrote in the response letter. “As soon as the final report is presented to the Governor’s office and approved by his staff, the public will be advised of its completion. At that time, any additional responses which do not violate the law, policy, or exemptions will be released pursuant to a proper and valid request.”

But questions remain over what parts of the investigation will become public. 

At a news conference last week, state officials announced they had fired three people involved in the photo, including two instructors and one cadet. They said 34 others had been suspended without pay. State officials confirmed that the person who took the photo has been terminated.

While many in the public have asked to learn the identities of the state employees involved in the training class, Gov. Jim Justice explained last week that he was unsure if he could release an unredacted photo of the cadets.

“These people deserve to be exposed. They do. They absolutely do. I don’t know that I can legally do that,” Justice said at the news conference.

DMAPS Sec. Jeff Sandy said the matter was a public safety issue. He said that the department had been made aware of threats made against those involved in the photo. 

“We’re allowed by law to balance public safety versus releasing the identity of those. And as I indicated, we’ve received numerous communications by both telephone and email,” Sandy said at the news conference. “So we will continue to evaluate this and use that information to make that determination.”

In addition to requesting copies of the unredacted photo in question, West Virginia Public Broadcasting has requested access to view the photo under the same conditions select members of the public — faith leaders invited by DMAPS — were shown the photo. State officials have not yet provided a decision on that request. 

This story was updated on Thursday, December 19, 2019 at 4:15 p.m. to reflect a clerical error in the training schedule provided by the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. The changes in this story reflect that corrected training schedule from DMAPS.