Multiple students at an Iowa high school were disciplined this week after they posed in a photo wearing white hoods and holding a confederate flag and a rifle.
The Des Moines Register reported on a photo that made the rounds on social media, which depicts five people standing in front of a burning cross. One of them was shirtless and all wore white hoods like those donned by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
After an investigation, officials at Creston Community High School determined the students were enrolled there. The students were disciplined, although officials would not reveal what their punishments were.
"That picture does not represent the beliefs of our school system, our parents, or our community," athletic director and assistant principal Jeff Bevins told the Register.
Creston Police Department Sgt. Pat Henry told the Register it did not appear a crime had been committed and the department is not looking into the matter.
"We don't believe any real crime has been committed," Henry said. "People can have weapons in the country."
The existence of the photo comes on the heels of several racially charged incidents across the U.S., including one in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month that resulted in the death of a 32-year-old woman.
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