Military Academies Investigating Cadets' Use Of Possible White Power Gesture At Army-Navy Game

The United States Naval Academy and United States Military Academy are investigating whether a hand gesture flashed by a midshipman and several cadets during a TV broadcast Saturday was meant to be a sign for "white power." The incident occurred during ESPN's telecast of "College GameDay," the sports network's pregame show for college football, before the annual Army-Navy football game.

While ESPN reporter Rece Davis was doing a live segment from the sidelines, several Army cadets and a Navy midshipman were seen flashing the "OK" hand gesture in the background. The symbol has been co-opted by white supremacists recently and is sometimes used to convey the sentiment "white power," due to the fingers forming the general shape of the letters "w" and "p," according to an explanation by the Anti-Defamation League. The use of the gesture as a racist message originally started as a hoax, but has since been adopted in earnest by actual white supremacists and members of the so-called "alt-right."

"U.S. Naval Academy officials have appointed a preliminary inquiry officer to conduct an internal investigation into the hand gestures made during the ESPN 'College GameDay' broadcast prior to [Saturday's] Army-Navy game," Naval Academy spokesperson Commander Alana F. Garas said in a statement to CBS News.