Hurricane High School on Friday, May 17, 2019. Police in southern Utah are investigating and two high school students are being disciplined for their alleged roles in a picture showing a person in a white hood holding two others with black material on their faces. Photo: Marc Weaver, KSL TV
HURRICANE — Hurricane police say students who shared a racist picture on social media won’t face any charges. Authorities call the photo abhorrent but say it is still protected under free speech.
The photo, posted on Snapchat in mid-May, showed a person in a white hood holding two others with a caption that had a racial slur, and a reference to hunting African Americans. It also had a confederate flag in the background.
A statement from Hurricane police says they investigated the photo and determined it was “not directed at any individual and there was no intention of harming anyone.”
They also say that the FBI, city and county prosecutors all say the photo should have never been taken, but the Constitution still protects it.
Washington County School District officials say they’ve disciplined the two Hurricane High students but haven’t said how.