Several North Dakota high school students could be in some serious trouble after a photo of them wearing Klu Klux Klan robes and hoods at a state hockey tournament was posted on twitter Friday night.
The photo was taken inside the Ralph Engelstad Arena by University of North Dakota student Shane Schuster who came to watch Red River High School play Fargo's Davies High School in the North Dakota Boys State Hockey Tournament semifinals. Armed with a camera, Schuster noticed three fans from Red River High wearing the garb of the white supremacy hate group and snapped a photo.
"I thought, 'Are those KKK hoods?' I couldn't believe it," Schuster told the Associated Press. "I was shocked."
Now school officials are on the search for the suspected students. Grand Forks Public Schools' athletics director Mark Reirck told the Associated Press he has spoken to arena and tournament security personnel about the matter after finding out about the disturbing photograph.
"After confirming the incident, we notified the administrators at Red River High School who immediately began their investigation," he said. "To the best of my knowledge, the students have been identified by the Red River administrators who are continuing their investigation."
Davies High School is named after Ronald Davies, a Fargo native and former federal judge who in 1957 integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. The ruling was controversial in the deeply segregated south and sparked angry protests. The Arkansas national guard were federalized to enforce the decision.
Schuster said the students wore the hoods for 10 to 20-minutes in the opening period of the game and then took them off. The photo has circulated on twitter with many users expressing their outrage, the report says.
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