West Point cadets are being investigated for giving Black Lives Matter salute


The image showing the 16 cadets from the West Point military academy was widely spread on social media

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-military-cadets-under-investigation-black-lives-matter-salute-photo-1558921/
*Many Embedded links*


Officials at the West Point military academy in New York have said an investigation will be launched in regards to a photograph that surfaced showing 16 black cadets posing with raised fists. Critics claim the stance is in violation of policies governing political messages as it depicts support for the Black Lives Matter campaign.

"We can confirm that the cadets in this photo are members of the US Military Academy's Class of 2016," West Point's director of public affairs, Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, said in a statement sent to Army Times on 5 May. "Academy officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter."

As the Army Times report noted, the raised fist is a symbol that has long been associated with a wide range of groups over the years, from labour unions to sports teams. In any case, some "active-duty officers" and veterans said the stance breaches Pentagon rules on avoiding "partisan political activity".

John Burk, an Army veteran who has completed tours-of-service in the Iraq War, has previously accused the 16 cadets of aligning with the Black Lives Matter movement and said that, if found to be true, it would be "completely unprofessional".

On his website, Burk wrote: "This overt display of the Black Lives Matter movement is not, in itself, wrong per say [sic], but to do so while in uniform is completely unprofessional and not in keeping with what the USMA [United States Military Academy] stands for."

In an additional statement uploaded to his website on 7 May, Buck addressed criticism he had received since making his initial statements and accused a New York Times report of "twisting his words" in its coverage of the incident. He wrote: "Civilians, and some military personnel, continue to voice the idea that it's their freedom of speech and they have that right; you're wrong. You give up your rights once you sign the dotted line. You wave your ability to do what you want, and say what you want."

As reported by Sky News, former US congressman and ex-Army Lt Col Allen West has also addressed the contentious issue in a blog post, claiming the cadets in the picture should apologise to the academy.

"[The cadets] need to make a public statement of apology to their class, and to the United States Military Academy," West wrote. "They worked hard over the past four years to earn that degree and commission, but they need to come the realisation of just how stupid their action was… yes, it was stupid. Why? Because the 16 female cadets will be called upon to lead, and leadership isn't based on colour. They'll be leading soldiers of all different backgrounds."

Meanwhile, a former graduate of West Point called Sue Fulton has defended the women in the photo and said the image was "just one of dozens of images the women took as part of a long-held West Point tradition".

Fulton, who graduated from the academy in 1980 and knows some of the women involved, added: "When I spent time with these cadets and heard them tell their stories and laugh and joke with each other, there's no doubt in my mind how much they love West Point, they love the Army and they support each other."



Barack Obama: Black Lives Matter movement raises 'legitimate issue'IBTimes UK * On link *

To me this isn't any different than flashing a gang sign.
In this instance it doesn't matter if it is BLM (Black Lives Matter), or SOO (Soldiers of Odin), or whom ever.
It is the military. And if your loyalty isn't there. Then you don't belong there.
There are simple concepts, we have lost in this country, & it will be our downfall.
If God, America, & Family are not your priority (& in that order), then get the f@ck out.

Give the Idiots Field-Latrine Duty!
That might give them some different Thoughts!

If they were on their own TIME & DIME, that would be their right.
But if your in the military & in uniform.. Your as@ belongs to the government.

#Cat10livesmatter

http://www.katc.com/story/31941659/no-punishment-for-16-west-point-cadets-in-raised-fist-photo?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KATC-TV_3:_Acadiana_s_Newschannel/

No punishment for 16 West Point cadets in raised-fist

Sixteen black West Point cadets who posed with raised fists for a pre-graduation picture that sparked debates on race and proper behavior in uniform won't be punished for the gesture, the U.S. Military Academy said Tuesday.

The decision, less than two weeks before the 16 female seniors are poised to graduate, found they didn't violate any U.S. Department of Defense rules limiting political activity.

An internal inquiry "found that the cadets did not pre-plan or set out to make a political statement," West Point's superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr., said in a letter to the student body.

But, he said, they showed "a lapse of awareness in how symbols and gestures can be misinterpreted and cause division" and they will get some instruction on that.

The fists-up image, which circulated online, led some observers to question whether the women were expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew out of protests over police killings of unarmed black men.

But the inquiry found the picture, one of multiple photos the women made in keeping with an informal campus tradition, captured a spur-of-the-moment gesture intended to demonstrate unity and pride in graduating, Caslen wrote. Groups of cadets often take Old Corps pictures in traditional dress uniforms to echo historical portraits.

A raised fist has symbolized political resistance for generations, from Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in 1990 to Democratic Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on the presidential campaign trail this year. It was used by black power advocates in the 1960s, including by two American sprinters during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, and more recently by activists for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Some observers suggested the women were improperly identifying with the movement while in uniform.

Defenders said the women were simply celebrating their forthcoming graduation, something closer in spirit to a team lifting helmets to celebrate a win or Beyonce raising her fist at this year's Super Bowl halftime show.

"Their frame of reference is: 'Right now, we're getting ready to graduate in three weeks. I'm standing here with my sisters,'" Mary Tobin, a 2003 West Point graduate and mentor who spoke to the students after the photo was taken in late April, said this past weekend.

Some critics of West Point's inquiry said the black women, who represent less than 2 percent of the graduating class, were being held to a different standard than other cadets.

"Will there ever be a time when black women can unapologetically show that they are strong proud and supportive of one another without their action being interpreted as an act of militant defiance?" Essence magazine editor-in-chief Vanessa De Luca asked in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week.

Indeed, Caslen noted that other cadets have used clenched fists to show support for a team or pride at serving their country. So did he, along with hundreds of West Point staffers and graduates on the night before last year's Army-Navy football game, he added.

The decision was politically fraught for West Point, which has been making a push to increase the number of women in the Long Gray Line. About 80 percent of cadets are men and about 70 percent are white.

NO punishment.. Tsk tsk..

Okay, the next 16 Non black, Non female, making hand signs, I got your back. Yo Latin Kings!, Soldiers Of Odin!, Triads ! ... Check out these insubordinate women.

Hhhaa.. :

cowgirls.....Hmmmmm~~~~sweet........better to revolars.....or tha mighty cent will turn head!!!!!~~~~~~~hmmmm whatever...........

They were bad nailcap.. Bad, & they should of been expelled from the academy. They are NOT 'officer material'.

When I am President.. This sh@t will never happen. .. Jk

a cadet should learn federal social security laws and criminal phycological before they ride......arn't they? god will jugde the facts like i said those "zero"s never learn.....damn i realy don't wana hightly drill with such kind of event i only will gona blowing your head if you do take seriours to these troubles bettween "when" and "did" surely don't like to care but some time you have to if you had set foot in that godamn swram before......it is question about the time and humanoid it self items no more. and also it is the fountain of youth......the source of ambition.....some time motions will always beaten down the logic isn't it?

Timing is everything.
Doing it as a group photo, in uniform, is disrespectful, & undisciplined. And sets a bad example.
Expelling them, would of set an example also. That, the behavior, will not be tolerated.
* No one would of stopped them from a photo, in their own clothes, on their own time *

but it could be also thier pc was being hacked or some how so the photo was publicing in the public isn't it? i don't think if they've keep the photo their own will be define as the "behavior of not well"......