White hoods, cross burning: Iowa students disciplined after photo surfaces

A picture that made the rounds on social media Wednesday morning led to the discipline of a handful of Creston Community High School students.

The photo shows five people standing in a field wearing white, pointed hoods, resembling Ku Klux Klan robes, with what appears to be a burning cross in between them. Three of the people are wearing white T-shirts while another is shirtless. Two have their arms raised while a third appears to be holding a firearm. Another is waving what appears to be a Confederate flag.

Creston High School learned of the photo early Wednesday morning. The school launched an investigation, found that Creston students were involved and dealt with the matter swiftly, athletic director Jeff Bevins told the Register. 

The students were disciplined but, because they are minors, school officials would not reveal the extent of their discipline.

"That picture does not represent the beliefs of our school system, our parents or our community," said Bevins, who also serves as the school's assistant principal.

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The Creston Police Department has not been contacted by the school district to further investigate the incident, said Sgt. Pat Henry.

He said it appears the photo was taken in the countryside and it is not determined to be a criminal matter yet. The school district is conducting its own internal investigation.

"We don’t believe any real crime has been committed," Henry said." People can have weapons in the country."

In addition to disciplining the students involved, school officials have spoken with other students to make sure they feel comfortable coming to school in light of the photo, said high school Principal Bill Messerole. He added that he expects these conversations to continue in coming days.

"This certainly isn't an issue that you just forget and move on. ... We want to make sure that it's OK to have a dialogue about this," Messerole said.

"The students that I've talked with today were obviously upset by the photo," he said.

He reiterated that students know the photo is not representative of the school or of the Creston community as a whole.

"Our students know that that's not what our school stands for," Messerole said. "This is a good student body. I have always been proud of this student body. This isn't what our students are about. Our students are above this."

There are about 490 students at Creston High School.

Bevins added that the Creston school district hasn't had to deal with these kinds of actions before Wednesday.

Bevins confirmed that the Creston students in the picture were involved in several school activities, both athletic and nonathletic. When asked if those disciplined were members of the Creston/Orient-Macksburg football team, Bevins said, "No comment."

School officials also would not confirm what year the students are in school.

Messerole added that the photo was not taken on school grounds, but he didn't know where it was taken.

While the photo is offensive, Drake University Professor Mark Kende said it appears the school district's discipline is overreach and the student's conduct is protected by the Constitution. He said if the photo was taken off school grounds and was not targeted towards specific students, the district may not be allowed to punish the students.

"There's a serious free speech issue here," Kende said.

Betty Andrews, president of Iowa-Nebraska National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the picture was appalling.

"It is a pretty horrific sight to see in Iowa.," Andrews said. "I do see complaints of this nature, and it’s not only happening in Creston."

Andrews said there's been an increase in reports of hate speech, including in Iowa City and Des Moines. She said that beyond discipline, there's a need to educate people on race issues.

"When I see this, I’m floored. When I see this, I’m really disturbed," Andrews said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Cody Goodwin covers high school sports, college basketball recruiting and Drake athletics for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.