Racial Slurs at Air Force Academy a Hoax, Investigation Reveals
An alleged racial incident at the U.S. Air Force Academy that turned an officer into an Internet sensation was, in fact, a hoax perpetrated by one of the alleged victims, academy officials announced on November 7.
“We can confirm that one of the cadet candidates who was allegedly targeted by racist remarks written outside of their dorm room was actually responsible for the act,” academy spokesman Lt. Col. Allen Herritage said in a statement to the Colorado Springs Gazette. “The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation.”
In late September, five black cadet candidates at the Colorado Springs academy’s prep school found a racial slur and the command “go home” written on erasable note boards outside their dorm room. According to the Gazette, “The incident kicked off a scandal at the school and led to a sweeping probe by academy police and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.”
Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, however, did not wait for the investigation to complete before jumping to the conclusion that the scrawlings were the work of racists. He called all 4,000 cadets together, ordered them to stand at attention, and asked them to record his remarks on their smartphones “so that you have it, so that you can use it, so that we all have the moral courage together.”
After referring to the “backdrop of what is going on in our country” such as the August killing of an Antifa protestor by a white nationalist in Charlottesville, Virginia, Silveria told cadets, “If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.”
An alleged racial incident at the U.S. Air Force Academy that turned an officer into an Internet sensation was, in fact, a hoax perpetrated by one of the alleged victims, academy officials announced on November 7.
“We can confirm that one of the cadet candidates who was allegedly targeted by racist remarks written outside of their dorm room was actually responsible for the act,” academy spokesman Lt. Col. Allen Herritage said in a statement to the Colorado Springs Gazette. “The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation.”
In late September, five black cadet candidates at the Colorado Springs academy’s prep school found a racial slur and the command “go home” written on erasable note boards outside their dorm room. According to the Gazette, “The incident kicked off a scandal at the school and led to a sweeping probe by academy police and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.”
Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, however, did not wait for the investigation to complete before jumping to the conclusion that the scrawlings were the work of racists. He called all 4,000 cadets together, ordered them to stand at attention, and asked them to record his remarks on their smartphones “so that you have it, so that you can use it, so that we all have the moral courage together.”
After referring to the “backdrop of what is going on in our country” such as the August killing of an Antifa protestor by a white nationalist in Charlottesville, Virginia, Silveria told cadets, “If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.”