Free Republic

The 16 black West Point cadets who caused a stir after posing for a photograph with raised fists won’t be disciplined over the image, the U.S. Military Academy said Tuesday. An internal investigation launched after the snapshot surfaced online has ended with authorities deciding not to discipline the cadets, but to offer them additional counseling ahead of their graduation on May 21, West Point’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr., said in a letter to the academy’s student body this week. “While the inquiry did not find that these cadets violated a policy or regulation, it did determine that they...

The White House refused Tuesday to criticize black female West Point cadets who posed for a photo giving a black-pride gesture, saying only that President Obama is proud of the class of 2016. White House press secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged the photo “has generated some discussions about race relations in our country.” “But the real focus should be on the tremendous accomplishments of these cadets,” Mr. Earnest said. “I’m not going to try to divine the message that those cadets were attempting to send.”

The United States Military Academy at West Point said Wednesday that an investigation is underway regarding a photograph that shows 16 black cadets in uniform posing with their fists in the air. “We can confirm that the cadets in this photo are members of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2016,” West Point’s director of public affairs, Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, told Army Times on Wednesday. “Academy officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter. John Burk, an Army veteran who served in the Iraq War before launching a popular fitness website, accused the 16 female cadets photographed in the...