Indiana School Investigating Reported Photo of Students Forming Human Swastika

An Indiana school said on Aug. 22 it is investigating a photo posted on social media that reportedly shows nine students forming a human swastika.

The Kokomo Tribune reported that the photo appears to show eight students lying on their backs on the Daleville Community Schools’ high school gym floor and one student standing in the middle and they all have their arms raised in a Nazi salute.

Daleville Community Schools Superintendent Paul Garrison said in a statement on the school’s website, “We are profoundly disappointed and shocked by the apparent actions of the students as depicted in the images we have seen posted on social media. This type of insensitive behavior is devastating to our school community and in no way does this incident represent the high expectations we have for our students, teachers, staff, and administrators.”

He added that the school is investigating the matter and “will determine an appropriate course of action and will follow all applicable policies and law.”

A similar incident occurred in March 2019, when a photo surfaced of students at Newport Harbor High School in Orange County forming a swastika with red plastic cups while doing Nazi salutes. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted at the time, “This is not the first time we’ve recently seen high school students giving Nazi salutes and using Nazi imagery. This further proves how important it is for us to pass legislation requiring #Holocaust education in schools.”