Four Police Officers Suspended for Flashing White Power "OK" Gesture

JASPER, Ala. (WBMA) — Four officers in the Jasper [Alabama] Police Department were suspended for making a hand gesture while posing for a photo. Some people claimed the circular gesture was racist, according to the city's mayor, David O'Mary. The mayor said some have claimed the gesture was meant to express the phrase "white power."

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) the OK gesture / circle game hand sign is NOT a hate symbol. "Has the simple thumb-and-forefinger “OK” hand gesture become a white supremacist hand sign? Well, no, it hasn’t, but you are likely to hear just the opposite from social media, thanks to the latest hoax from members of notorious website 4chan... The “OK” hand gesture hoax originated in February 2017 when an anonymous 4channer announced “Operation O-KKK,” telling other members that “we must flood Twitter and other social media websites…claiming that the OK hand sign is a symbol of white supremacy.” The user even provided a helpful graphic showing how the letters WP (for “white power”) could be traced within an “OK” gesture. The originator and others also suggested useful hashtags to help spread the hoax, such as #PowerHandPrivilege and #NotOkay. “Leftists have dug so deep down into their lunacy,” wrote the poster, “We must force [them] to dig more, until the rest of society ain’t going anywhere near that s***.”

 

--

 

When the leadership of a police department (any police department) will investigate and suspend their personnel based on clearly false allegations, there is a serious problem in that department.

 

Five minutes on the Internet was all it took to identify the White Power / OK Gesture hoax.

 

Investigations and punitive actions of this type demonstrate a clear abuse of authority by the department leadership, and almost certainly violate the rights of the suspended personnel.