Wisconsin school district says class 'Nazi salute' protected by free speech

District administrator Lori Mueller writes that students will not be punished as ‘we cannot know the intentions in the hearts of those who were involved’

A Wisconsin school board has said that the right to free speech means it cannot punish students who were photographed giving what appeared to be a Nazi salute on the steps of a local courthouse.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Baraboo School District Administrator Lori Mueller said that it was difficult to establish what had occurred immediately prior to the photo being taken.

“As previously stated, we cannot know the intentions in the hearts of those who were involved,” Mueller wrote, according to the Madison.com website. “Moreover, because of students’ First Amendment rights, the district is not in a position to punish the students for their actions.”

Mueller also noted that the district was taking steps to rebuild community relationships and trust in the wake of the controversy.

The parent who took the photo has said he was simply asking the teens to wave goodbye to their parents before they headed to prom and never anticipated the image would draw such widespread condemnation.

But Pete Gust, who has a son in the photo, said he understood why the photo of about 60 boys outside the Sauk County Courthouse in Baraboo last spring offended some people. About two-thirds of the boys have their right arms raised in the gesture.

“The optics aren’t good,” Gust told The Associated Press, but added: “There was never any inkling of that whatsoever. … There was nothing intended in any way, shape or form to simulate anything that was offensive to anyone.”

But one of the students in the photo who did not raise his arm, Jordan Blue, said he believes some of the students did intend to make the Nazi salute as a joke.

“It was very disrespectful to what my beliefs are, and it was a very bad representation of the senior class and the Baraboo School District, because by all means, the Baraboo School District does not support that kind of actions and it is a district that provides many opportunities for the students,” Blue told the Baraboo News Republic. “This is something that I will never forget.”

I spoke with the only student who is visibly not comfortable with the “salute”, he provided this statement. pic.twitter.com/HbNBc8xLOK

— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) November 12, 2018

Gust had posted the photo to his photography business website, Wheel Memories, after it was taken in May. He took it down and posted an apology after it surfaced in social media posts and was shared widely earlier this month, prompting strong criticism from individuals and from Jewish organizations.

Baraboo School Board President Kevin Vodak, stressing that he was speaking as a private citizen, has said the photo “deeply disappointed me, shamed, appalled, and angered me.

“The photo has shaken to the core my personal belief of the process that we as a community and as a school district have made to be tolerant, inclusive, accepting and admitting of all of those who are different from ourselves,” he added.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland was among those criticizing the photo on social media.

“This is why every single day we work hard to educate. We need to explain what is the danger of hateful ideology rising,” the memorial tweeted.