: This story has been updated with new comments from Lansing Catholic President Dominic Iocco.
LANSING A Lansing Catholic High School employee was fired after an investigation into a racist photo that was posted to the high school s social media pages.
Lansing Catholic High School President Dominic Iocco confirmed the employee, whom he declined to name, was solely responsible for the photo being posted. While we believe this was not an intentional act, this was a serious lapse in judgment that precludes this person from continuing in a position that holds such responsibility, Iocco said in a statement issued Tuesday. Because of this, this person s employment with Lansing Catholic has been terminated effective today.
CLARIFICATION:
This story has been updated with new information on the origins of the photo and with Lansing Catholic s statement. While
school administrators originally believed the photo was taken during a student theater production, they later confirmed it was from a 1978 Halloween assembly at the school.
LANSING A furor broke out on social media Thursday morning after a Catholic high school posted a photo from the 1978-9 yearbook appearing to show students performing a Nazi salute, at least one of them in a KKK hood.
The photo was posted to Lansing Catholic High School s Instagram and Facebook pages around 9:45 a.m., accompanied by a #ThrowbackThursday hashtag, according to screenshots provided to the Lansing State Journal.
The 1978 yearbook photo from a Halloween assembly was taken down around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. A member of the school's social media team is on administrative leave.