DISTURBING

KKK Plaque Found Hiding in Plain Sight at West Point Military Academy

The prominent plaque has been hanging over the entrance of a science center for decades.

A congressional panel set up in the wake of George Floyd’s murder to examine the names of Department of Defense sites made a shocking find: a prominent plaque at the West Point military academy, mounted at the entrance of a science center, depicting a figure in a KKK hood with “KU KLUX KLAN” emblazoned beneath. The discovery was contained in a report released Monday by the Naming Commission, which has recommended removing or re-naming several defense assets still named after, or honoring, Confederate figures. Since the KKK emerged after the Civil War, the plaque fell outside their purview, Ty Seidule, the Commission’s vice chair and a retired brigadier general, told The New York Times. The Commission nonetheless included the plaque in its report, flagging it for scrutiny and removal by other parties.