Newport-Mesa School District officials in Newport Beach, California, are investigating Instagram photos that emerged from a weekend party in which smiling high-schoolers are shown giving the Nazi salute around red plastic beer cups lined up in the shape of a swastika. School Board President Charlene Metoyer said she recognized several of the students. “I was simply devastated to see that,” Metoyer told the Orange County Register. “As a school board, we’re not only concerned by the underage drinking, but also the mental health of the students who participated in this horrendous act and all their fellow students who will be affected by it. This is appalling to not just our Jewish student community, but to all of us who care about human rights.” Rabbi Peter Levi, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Orange County Long Beach chapter, called on the community to condemn the behavior. “The bottom line is that swastikas and Nazi salutes are never funny,” he said. “And when such actions are normalized as jokes, hate and bigotry become normalized.”
