School officials and the local police department of a Wisconsin town are investigating after members of the high school’s senior class were photographed giving an apparent Nazi salute before last year’s junior prom.
A photo of the Baraboo High School class of 2019 surfaced late Sunday, showing a group of about 50 boys standing on the steps of the Sauk County Courthouse with their arms outstretched above their heads, laughing and smiling.
One boy in the front can also be seen flashing the “OK sign,” a symbol that the controversial site 4chan attempted to spread as a white supremacy symbol last year.
Lori Mueller, the Baraboo School District administrator, wrote on Twitter that the photo is “not reflective” of the district’s educational values and beliefs.
“The District will pursue any and all available and appropriate actions, including legal, to address,” she wrote.
Baraboo parents also received a letter Monday morning from Mueller informing them of the photo’s existence and of an impending investigation.
“Early this morning, a photo that was taken last spring of some Baraboo School District students who appear to be making extremely inappropriate gestures began circulating on social media. The district has confirmed at this time that the photo was not taken on school property or at a school-sponsored event,” the letter read.
“We want to be very clear: the Baraboo School District is a hate-free environment where all people, regardless of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, are respected and celebrated.”
The Baraboo Police Department said in a statement Monday it was aware of the photo, and would be assisting the school district with its investigation.
Baraboo High School administrative assistant Angie Cowling told the Baraboo News Republic that because of the controversy surrounding the photo, the high school was put in a “soft hold” Monday, meaning students are not allowed to leave school grounds without a parent’s permission and office approval.
The photo, which was taken ahead of the class of 2019’s junior prom, first surfaced on social media late Sunday on a private Twitter account called Welcome to Baraboo, which describes itself as a parody account not associated with the high school.
“We even got the black kid to throw it up #barabooproud,” the caption read, referring to the salute.
It appears the photo was taken by a local photographer operating under the name Wheel Memories. The company’s website has a section called “BHS Prom Pics,” though instead of photos, it features a bizarre message condemning “malevolent behavior on the part of some in society.”
“It is too bad that there are those in society who can and do take the time to be jerks; knowingly and willingly to be jerks!” the message reads. “The internet can be a wonderful tool but for some there is an overwhelming urge to destroy. . . . To anyone that was hurt I sincerely apologize. To those who have harmed them, we as society often ignore them I have chosen not to do that. YOU ARE JERKS! Grow up!”
One student featured in the photo, Jordan Blue, sent a statement to journalist Jules Suzdaltsev saying that while he appears in the group, he did not partake in the hand gesture, which he says was prompted by the photographer.
“I clearly am uncomfortable with what was happening. I couldn’t leave the photo as it was taken within 5 seconds,” he said. “The photographer took the photos telling us to make the sign, I knew what my morals were and it was not to salute something I firmly didn’t believe in.”
Blue added that his classmates have bullied him since middle school.
“These are the boys of Class of 2019, nothing has been done and my question is . . . With (sic) anything ever be done,” Blue said. “I truly & firmly believe we need to make a change to this horrible act, it needs to stop.”
Since the controversy erupted, users have taken to Twitter to express their frustration with the photo.
“I am a Baraboo student and I am not proud for what our class did,” a user named Khrystyna wrote. “It is unacceptable and sad that we are only now noticing this. However, not all students were involved in this so please don’t attack kids just because they attend BHS.”
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland also weighed in, writing, “It is so hard to find words. This is why every single day we work hard to educate. We need to explain what is the danger of hateful ideology rising. Auschwitz with its gas chambers was at the very end of the long process of normalizing and accommodating hatred.”
Meanwhile, residents of Baraboo took action against the photo, and dropped by the same courthouse steps to take a picture of their own, this time featuring symbols of love instead of hate.
A photo shared with WISC-TV News 3 showed dozens of people making a heart shape with their hands and holding rainbow pride flags.
Baraboo, a town of about 12,000 located 50 miles north of Madison, reportedly faced a similar controversy in 2012 when a group of teenagers stuck Confederate flags on their trucks to honor a friend who had died in a car crash.
The police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Mueller told the Daily News she is unable to comment further as the investigation is ongoing.
