Over the weekend, #WhitePower became a top trending topic on Twitter. All because a cadet at an Army-Navy got caught in a photo flashing what was supposedly the “white power” symbol, aka the “OK” sign.

As far as I can tell, this is the tweet which sparked this story. https://t.co/jpGnkFIEmZ — JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) December 15, 2019

It didn’t take long for heroic MSM firefighters to seize (yes, we said “seize”) on this scandal, churning out breathless articles and reports to confirm that our military is churning with white supremacists.

People who weren’t insane pointed out that the cadet in question was likely just playing the “circle game,” not signaling his fellow neo-Nazis. Their voices were drowned out by all the hysterics. But nearly a week later, it appears the skeptics were right (shocker!). West Point looked into the matter and concluded that it had absolutely nothing to do with white supremacy:

The U.S. Military Academy announced today it has concluded an internal investigation of the cadets who displayed hand gestures during a broadcast of ESPN College GameDay at the Army-Navy game Dec. 14 — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

The investigating officer concluded that the cadets were playing a common game, popular among teenagers today, known as the “circle game” and the intent was not associated with ideologies or movements that are contrary to the Army values. — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

“We investigated this matter thoroughly,” said Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, 60th superintendent, #USMA. “Last Saturday we had reason to believe these actions were an innocent game and not linked to extremism, but we must take allegations such as these very seriously." — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

The cadets involved are still not getting off the hook, though:

"We are disappointed by the immature behavior of the cadets," said Williams. — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

The investigator found that the game was being played in the stands before the ESPN host moved into the crowd. Based on the results of the investigation, those cadets involved will receive appropriate administrative and/or disciplinary actions. — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

“We develop leaders of character who serve to defend our nation and the American people, and we expect our cadets to lead and live honorably and demonstrate excellence. Leading and living honorably means to act in a professional manner at all times,” Williams said. — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point's mission remains constant—to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country. — U.S. Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) December 20, 2019

The cadets would’ve been fine if a bunch of know-nothing SJWs hadn’t flipped their lids over a nontroversy. Sigh.

???: West Point releases their findings into the hand gestures made at the Army/Navy games. The school says the cadets were playing the circle game and NOT making white power symbols. pic.twitter.com/KpP89str1v — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) December 20, 2019

This crap is getting seriously old.

This was painfully obvious from the beginning. What was more likely? 1) Cadets were up to speed on Twitter micro-cultures and were destroying their careers live on national television? or 2) they were playing a common, silly game that's existed for years? https://t.co/YwyasgE0yc — David French (@DavidAFrench) December 20, 2019

You mean the pearl clutching lib blue checks were wrong again!? https://t.co/OtQcsN5bGl — Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 20, 2019

Shocker. Embarrassing that it was made into a national news story for a week. https://t.co/yrMSpLWutC — (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) December 20, 2019

Townhall senior writer (and U.S. Marine) Julio Rosas took a few moments to recall some of the fine people who tripped all over themselves to impugn the military:

Now that the report concludes what non-hysterical people knew all along, here's a thread of people/media places smearing the cadets by jumping to conclusions: pic.twitter.com/gqedUEnfyC — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) December 20, 2019

Some of these tweets got thousands of RTs and likes off of accusing our future military leaders of being white supremacists. It's shameful: (2/X) pic.twitter.com/00phRA6uLB — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) December 20, 2019

Last one for now but this one is insane. New York Magazine included the Army/Navy game incident with ACTUAL hate crimes that occurred this year, including the El Paso and Gilroy shootings. Completely irresponsible.https://t.co/NNOgmRB36N pic.twitter.com/L8lgmpIH80 — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) December 20, 2019

Hope they’re all really proud of themselves.

Much of the media reaction to this was insane. https://t.co/ORwtgPleUH — Josh Barro (@jbarro) December 20, 2019

There's a powerful idea in the media that the intent of subject doesn't matter and they can read anything they want into any situation. It has resulted in horrendous effects. https://t.co/cvZjeP7Rsw — Kevin ? Glass (@KevinWGlass) December 20, 2019

Congratulations to everyone who participated in Covington 2.0, with a special shout out to @RadioFreeTom! https://t.co/rh2W7m5cYY — JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) December 20, 2019