One of the supposed victims of racist messages scrawled at the Air Force Academy Preparatory School was actually the author of the messages, an investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations has determined.
The incident in late September, in which five black cadet candidates found slurs written on the message boards of their dorm room doors, drew national attention, especially after Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria addressed cadets and cadet candidates at the Colorado Springs Campus, saying, “If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out.”
A mother of one of the cadet candidates at the time posted on social media that her son had found the message, “go home n—–r” on his dorm door.
“We can confirm that one of the cadet candidates who was allegedly targeted by racist remarks written outside of their dorm room was actually responsible for the act,” academy spokesman Lt. Col. Allen Herritage told the Colorado Springs Gazette in an email. “The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation.”
Silveria had told cadet candidates to take out their cell phones and record his speech, “so you can use it … so that we all have the moral courage together.” His speech went viral on YouTube, netting more than 1.1 million views, and also garnered praise from politicians such as former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Even though the racist incident has now been determined a hoax, the academy says it stands by Silveria’s speech. Meanwhile, the cadet candidate found to have perpetrated the hoax is no longer at the school, and the person has not been named.
The Gazette cited sources who said the candidate who wrote the messages “committed the act in a bizarre bid to get out of trouble he faced at the school for other misconduct.”
