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.”
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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.”
The official video of Silveria’s speech went viral, garnering over a million views on YouTube and earning Silveria praise from various political figures and even suggestions that he run for office. It was also used by the mainstream media to further denigrate President Donald Trump’s response to the Charlottesville incident, in which he condemned violence “on many sides.”
Although “several sources” told the Gazette that the cadet candidate “committed the act in a bizarre bid to get out of trouble he faced at the school for other misconduct,” academy officials are refusing to comment further on the matter other than saying the candidate is no longer at the academy.
“We acknowledge that there may be additional information already in the public space, but we will refrain from discussing further details surrounding the investigation due to privacy act requirements,” Herritage told the paper.
The Air Force Academy incident is just the latest in a long line of fraudulent “hate crimes” perpetrated by their supposed victims. For instance, the day before the academy’s announcement, Riley County, Kansas, police revealed that a black man whose car had been painted with racial slurs and threats had confessed to doing the deed himself. In that case, as at the Air Force Academy, many people, including students at nearby Kansas State University, jumped to the erroneous conclusion that racist whites were at fault, only to wind up embarrassed when the truth came out.
Despite the fact that the academy’s racial incident turned out to be a fraud, Silveria is standing by his much-lauded speech. “Regardless of the circumstances under which those words were written, they were written, and that deserved to be addressed,” he told the Gazette via email. “You can never over-emphasize the need for a culture of dignity and respect — and those who don’t understand those concepts, aren’t welcome here.”
Likewise, Herritage said in his statement, “Racism has no place at the Academy, in any shape or form. We will continue to create a climate of dignity and respect for all, encourage ideas that do so, and hold those who fail to uphold these standards accountable.”
The Air Force Academy, in short, is against racism — even when it is phony. Americans await a statement confirming the academy’s commitment to waiting for all the facts to come in before publicly passing judgment on its cadets.
Photo: U.S. Air Force Academy
