BARABOO, WI — Citing First-Amendment rights, school district officials in Baraboo said they’re not in a position to punish a group of students who were photographed while appearing to give the Nazi Salute last spring on the Sauk County Courthouse.
After a 10-day investigation, school officials said they would not punish the students in the photo.
“As previously stated, we cannot know the intentions in the hearts of those who were involved,” Mueller wrote in the letter. “Moreover, because of students’ First Amendment rights, the district is not in a position to punish the students for their actions.”
At issue was a photograph that was taken by photographer Peter Gust during the school’s spring prom. A group of students dressed in formal attire stood on the steps of the Sauk County Courthouse, with many holding their right arm extended in what appeared to be a Nazi salute. According to Madison.com, the photo was taken in May 2018 before prom, and included a mix of past and current Baraboo High School students. In comments to the media, Gust said that he told students to “wave goodbye to their parents.”
In a statement to Jules Suzdaltsev, one student who refused to make the salute said that students were, in fact, requested to make the salute. Jordan Blue, who appears in the top-right corner of the photo, said that the photographer, who was not sanctioned or paid by the district, told the students “to make the sign” and that Blue did not have time to leave because the picture “was taken within five seconds.”
Outrage over the photo, which found its way to social media in November, was wide and pronounced, as local and national reactions condemned the action.
A coalition led by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and anticipates working with the Baraboo School District to prevent future incidents such as the one recorded by a prom photographer earlier this year:
“We are alarmed by the disturbing display of anti-Semitism by a group of Baraboo High School students. Though the incident apparently took place last May, it reflects a rising swell of anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. We are particularly concerned with the prevalence of bigotry within schools; more than 25 percent of all the recorded anti-Semitic incidents in Wisconsin last year took place among students or on campus … As we know, acts of hate begin with hateful expressions. Such expressions must be a call to action for schools and families to educate youth to respect diversity and to embrace difference. The values that will hold us together must be taught and reinforced, lest we see the continued rise of hate and its consequences.”
Local groups sought to bring new energy to their community shortly after the photo was published. Chanting “love, not hate,” members of the community gathered outside the Sauk County Courthouse the next day in a show of solidarity .
Nearly 100 people chanted against hate and brandished signs advocating love and peace. Local photographer Stephanie Shanks said she felt moved to organize a new group photo.
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District Reverses Course on Nazi Salute Photo
The Baraboo School District initially said it planned to pursue any and all measures, including legal, to punish the students in the photo.
In an letter sent to families the morning after the photo was published, Superintendent Lori Mueller said that the photo was taken last spring of a group of Baraboo students. The letter read in part:
“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 Baraboo Police Department said they were also conducting an investigation into the photo at the request of the school district.
One Student Refuses To Make Salute
Jordan Blue, the one student who appeared in the photo who did not participate in the gesture, reacted to the photo publicly on Twitter.
“My name is Jordan Blue, I am the boy captured in the photo to the far right. The photo was taken during our Junior Prom photos. I am clearly uncomfortable, with what was happening. I couldn’t leave the photo as it was taken within 5 seconds,” he stated on Twitter. “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. I attend BHS and these classmates have bullied me since entering middle school. I have struggled with it my entire life and nothing has changed.”
Photo credit (Peter Gust via AP) In this May 2018 photo provided by Peter Gust, a group of Wisconsin high school boys stand on the steps outside the Sauk County Courthouse in Baraboo, Wis. The image has drawn widespread condemnation because of the appearance that some of the students are giving a Nazi salute. Gust, who has a son in the photo, denies there was an intent to offend anyone and says they are waving goodbye to their parents before they head to prom.