Outrage after two Wyoming students arrive at school on ‘Spirit Day’ in white robes and hoods ‘designed to look like KKK regalia’
- Photo taken at Riverton High School in Wyoming on Wednesday shows two grinning teenage boys sporting white robes
- Boy in front has his pointy hood up, a wooden cross around his neck and American flag in his hand
- Commenters on Facebook suggested the pair had dressed up as monks for Spirit Day, when students were encouraged to wear white
- State official tweeted that an investigation has shown the pair ‘intentionally entered the school in attire known to be associated with the Ku Klux Klan’
Two male students at a high school in Wyoming were disciplined after coming to class wearing white robes and hoods meant to resemble traditional Ku Klux Klan attire.
A photo, which has since gone viral on social media, captured the moment the two unnamed students entered Riverton High School on Wednesday morning with wide grins on their faces.
The teenager in the front had the white, conical hood pulled up on his head, a large wooden cross hanging around his neck and an American flag in his hands.
Viral image: This photo shows two male students entering Riverton High School in Wyoming on Wednesday dressed in white robes and hoods, which a state official claimed they had donned to deliberately evoke the Ku Klux Klan
Nearly three quarters of Riverton High School’s student population is white
His smiling companion following in his footsteps wore an identical white robe and a white baseball cap.
Wednesday was ‘Spirit Day’ at the school and students were encouraged to wear all white, reported Casper Star-Tribune.
Some commenters on Facebook defended the boys in the picture, saying they had intended to dress up as monks, not as members of the KKK.
But Wyoming State Superintendent Jillian Balow pushed back against that narrative on Twitter, arguing that it was the teens’ intention to evoke the white supremacist hate group.
‘The facts indicate that they deliberately and intentionally entered the school in attire known to be associated with the Ku Klux Klan,’ she tweeted. ‘Hateful speech, attire, or behavior is unequivocally unacceptable.
Fremont County School District No. 25 Superintendent Terry Snyder told CNN the students in the photo have no history of making hateful or racist remarks.
The school posted this message condemning the ‘actions’ of the robe-clad students depicted in the now-viral photo
‘It seems to be a very poor decision,’ Snyder said. ‘They did not have an understanding of the impact that would create but they do now.’
School officials would not comment on the disciplinary actions that were taken against the students, but a commenter on Facebook whose son attends Riverton High wrote that they have been suspended.
The school posted a statement on its official Facebook page, saying: ‘we do not condone or support the student’s actions. We have taken disciplinary measures and handled it. One student’s decision does not represent our school or district. We are an inclusive school that is proud of our diverse population and celebrate that fact regularly.’
There are more than 700 students enrolled in Riverton High School, 73 per cent of them white and 17 American Indian.
Riverton has a population of 11,000 people, of whom more than 83 per cent are white, but the town is surrounded by Native American tribal lands.