Air Force Academy Racial Slur Incident Turns Out To Be A Hoax

Racist remarks scrawled outside the dorm rooms of five African-American U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School cadets constitutes a hoax. After an investigation, authorities determined that one of the five actually was responsible for the incident, which reportedly included the racist message “go home [N-word].”

The headline-making September incident prompted Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria to make a speech to the entire school denouncing racism and calling upon cadets to treat each other with dignity “or get out” in a video that was seen millions of times on social media.

U.S. Air Force Academy Police and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations conducted an inquiry into the incident. On Tuesday afternoon, Air Force officials confirmed that the incident at the Colorado Springs institution was a hoax perpetrated by one of the alleged victims, the Gazette reported.

“‘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 said in an email. ‘The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation.'”

The unidentified individual is no longer enrolled at the Air Force Academy. “Several sources say the cadet candidate committed the act in a bizarre bid to get out of trouble he faced at the school for other misconduct,” the Gazette added about the incident that prompted national news. Citing privacy regulations, Col. Herritage said there would be no further comment.

One of the five African-American cadet candidates thought to be a victim was actually the perpetrator. https://t.co/bAaYgunrn5

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) November 8, 2017

The Air Force Academy prep school helps athletes to brush up on their academic skills before they officially become first-year Air Force cadets.

In a separate email on Tuesday, Superintendent Silveria wrote that “Regardless of the circumstances under which those words were written, they were written, and that deserved to be addressed. You can never over-emphasize the need for a culture of dignity and respect — and those who don’t understand those concepts, aren’t welcome here.”

In a separate incident, a black man has apologized this week for painting racial slurs on his own car parked near Kansas State University, which apparently caused an uproar on campus. The 21-year-old motorist described the racist graffiti as a Halloween prank that “got out of hand.” Although the FBI got involved in addition to local cops, authorities decided against bringing charges against the man for filing a false police report, the Kansas City Star reported. Last months, authorities determined that three instances of racist vandalism at Eastern Michigan University, which left the campus community shaken, was the work of a 29-year-old black man who was a former student, the Washington Post reported. He faces several charges as a result.

The Inquisitr has previously detailed several other hate crime hoaxes that have occurred in the past year or so. Hate crime hoaxes, when they allegedly occur on or off campus, prevent law enforcement authorities from deploying resources to investigate real hate crimes.

[Featured Image by David Zalubowski/AP Images]