Navy midshipmen look on as Army cadets march on the field before the Army-Navy game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., Deceomber 14, 2019. (James Lang/USA TODAY Sports)

Cadets and midshipmen were smeared by a conspiratorial media class.

A collection of conspiratorial cable pundits, news outlets, progressive activists, and a celebrity actress spent last weekend accusing cadets and midshipmen of flashing white nationalist symbols during the Army-Navy game while live on television.

Their evidence for the charge? The young men were seen making the “OK” sign with their hands in a manner that has become associated with online racists who construe the gesture as signifying the first initials of “white power.”


The cadets and midshipmen pictured during the broadcast were actually engaged in the so-called “circle game,” according to a statement released Friday by the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy, which includes a description of the game that anyone with a brother will recognize.

“The evidence strongly supports a finding that the cadets were playing the ‘circle game,’ an internationally recognized game in which people attempt to trick someone else into looking at an okay-like hand gesture below the waist,” the service academies said in a report released Friday. “Sworn statements from all three cadets convey that their intention was to play the ‘circle game’ in order to garner attention from a national audience as well as surrounding cadets.”

“We are confident the hand gestures used were not intended to be racist in any way,” Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Sean Buck said in a statement.



A partially redacted version of the Naval Academy’s report, obtained by the New York Times, found that the game is commonly played by midshipmen. The report cites a text message, sent by the roommate of one of the men pictured making the sign, which reads “Got em,” in reference to his roommate’s habit of saying “got you” after tricking someone into looking at the gesture.

Public figures ranging from actress Chrissie Teigen to the Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt informed their audiences that the cadets and midshipmen were likely signaling their loyalty to a racist ideology, and declined to share the alternate “circle game” theory.

“Let’s pretend for a second these people really are doing the white power/white nationalism hand gesture,” Teigen wrote to her 12.1 million followers. “What does it even do for anyone? Do you get points for each time it’s seen like? Is there a boss out there keeping score? Or is it like paging someone?”

Several large accounts belonging to liberal activists and journalists immediately began propagating the sinister explanation for the hand gesture.

Trump attended the #ArmyNavy game today. White power symbols are on full display.

pic.twitter.com/gw6XF96BUu — Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) December 15, 2019

“Superintendents of @WestPoint_USMA and @navalacademy, Are you going to discipline the cadets & midshipmen who flashed white power signs at the Army Navy game?” Pulitzer-winning journalist David Cay Johnston tweeted, proposing “Expulsion?” as a possible solution.



Huffington Post contributor Bryan Behar suggested the hand gesture may have been an ironic attempt to provoke an outraged reaction, but added that, if true, this wouldn’t exonerate them.

To all the people @ing me "we got you" or "triggered," I don't care whether the Army cadets were intending to throw up White Power symbols or playing a game that was meant to "trick" us into thinking they were. Either way, they were seeking the same reaction. And it's wrong. — Bryan Behar (@bryanbehar) December 15, 2019

Tom Nichols echoed Behar’s sentiment, labeling the young men “stupid,” a description he said would apply regardless of the explanation for their behavior.

The cadets are

1. Stupid and don't know that "okay" is how racists troll people who don't know it's not a racist symbol

2. Stupid and think it *is* a racist symbol

3. Stupid – and actual 3-Percenters

4. Stupid and playing a kid's game on national TV Common to all of these is… — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 15, 2019

Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman connected the brazen show of white supremacy to the malign influence of President Trump. “Trump emboldens this trash. He absolutely does. These guys should be kicked out immediately,” he demanded.

MSNBC legal analyst Maya Wiley was also convinced the hand gesture was in some way inspired by the Trump administration, specifically the continued service of Stephen Miller in the White House. (A group of Senate Democrats called for Miller to be fired earlier this month after the Southern Poverty Law Center published a cache of his official White House emails in which he shares content from the white nationalist website VDare with Breitbart News, in an attempt to shape coverage of immigration issues while working as an aid to then-senator Jeff Sessions.)

Remember that #Trump pardoned war criminals & has #StephenMiller in the White House. Moral leadership matters: “Military investigating possible white power signs flashed by students at Army-Navy game” https://t.co/8dKNZ1baEG — Maya Wiley (@mayawiley) December 15, 2019

Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League hoped the display might serve as an opportunity for “a conversation about issues of tolerance, issues of respect, issues of diversity, issues of equity,” and praised the universities for their willingness to investigate.

An investigation has been launched over whether a hand gesture flashed by a midshipman and several cadets during a TV broadcast was meant to be a sign for "white power” https://t.co/RZYvvRRYJv pic.twitter.com/6ZkqI6h2M6 — CBS News (@CBSNews) December 16, 2019

George Stephanopoulos told his Good Morning America viewers the young men were “under scrutiny” for flashing “what looked like a white power sign,” but stipulated that “there might be a different meaning at the military academies then what we normally see over the internet.”

Feminist activist Amy Siskind was alone in celebrating the apparent show of white supremacy.

Good! Army cadets' hand symbol linked to white power at ESPN’s Army-Navy ‘College GameDay’ show under investigation by West Point https://t.co/2pM1w0q7xB — Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) December 15, 2019

NAACP Legal head Sherrilyn Ifill shared the story. As did Rolling Stone’s Jamil Smith. “Clips of the signals went viral because of their well-known and documented association with ‘white power,’” he explained.

West Point is investigating a hand gesture made by several cadets and midshipmen during an ESPN pre-game broadcast at the Army-Navy game Saturday. Clips of the signals went viral because of their well-known and documented association with “white power.” https://t.co/GM0QipAbbq — Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) December 15, 2019

The country’s major newspapers dutifully reported that the hand gesture was being investigated as a potential display of white supremacy, citing the Anti-Defamation League’s description of the white power sign.


“Military Investigating Suspected ‘White Power’ Hand Gestures Flashed at Game,” the New York Times stated. “Academies looking into students’ hand symbols during pregame broadcast,” USA Today explained. the Philadelphia Inquirer joined in as the game was held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

While they were cleared of flashing white power signs, the cadets and midshipmen will be still sanctioned for their “immature behavior.”