West Point and Annapolis officials probe possible ‘white power’ hand signs at Army-Navy game

PHILADELPHIA — The Army and Navy academies are looking into hand signs flashed by students that can be associated with “white power” and were televised during the Army-Navy football game on Saturday, school officials said.

Cadets at West Point and midshipmen at the Naval Academy in the stands both appeared to display the sign during the broadcast, officials with the two military academies told The Wall Street Journal. The gesture was seen during an ESPN broadcast segment.

RELATED

Coast Guard member reprimanded for flashing controversial gesture on MSNBC

He was upbraided in administrative letter of censure signed by Capt. John Reed, the head of Hurricane Florence response efforts in Charleston, S.C.

By Carl Prine and Jon Simkins

School officials are trying to determine what the hand signals were meant to convey, they said.

“We’re looking into it,” Lt. Col. Chris Ophardt, a spokesperson for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, told the Journal. “I don’t know what their intention is.”

“We are aware and will be looking into it,” said Cmdr. Alana Garas, a spokesperson for the U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland.

The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

The hand sign is similar to the one often used to indicate “OK,” but the Anti-Defamation League says it has lately been used as an extremist meme, in part because of its ambiguity.

U.S. Coast Guard leaders last year reprimanded an officer who used a similar hand sign during a television broadcast.

RELATED

White nationalism remains a problem for the military, poll suggests

A survey of Military Times readers last fall found that more than half of non-white troops have seen signs of white nationalism and racist ideology.

By Leo Shane III

In Other News

Execs at Austal, which builds LCSs for U.S. Navy, indicted for fraud

Austal USA’s president, one of the three indicted executives, resigned in 2021 following an investigation into practices dating back more than four years.

VA rushes fix for payment problem before the rent is due

Roughly 280,000 student veterans and dependents could have faced a delay in benefits.

Navy offers up to $35,000 bonus for reserve aviation department heads

The helicopter maritime strike (HSM) community is the only one offered less in bonuses this year than in 2022.

Congress calls for more funding of Pentagon UFO office

Austin pledged to fully fund the office in the future.

Army identifies nine soldiers killed in Fort Campbell crash

All of the troops killed were stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Load More