Naval Academy opens investigation into social media posts

The U.S. Naval Academy has opened an investigation into social media posts allegedly made by a cadet that suggested police should shoot unarmed protesters and that Breonna Taylor received "justice" when she was shot and killed by police in Kentucky.

The posts were made by a since-deleted Twitter account identified as belonging to Chase Standage, a Midshipman 1st Class from California, and began circulating online Monday, The Capital Gazette reported.

Academy officials learned about the comments Monday night, the newspaper quoted Cmdr. Alana Garas as saying.

Screenshots posted online appear to show the cadet wrote "good hit" about a police officer firing tear gas at an unarmed protester demonstrating in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis and allegedly said "these riots would've been over a whole lot quicker" if police officers could kill unarmed people.

In a reply to a tweet calling for justice for Taylor, an emergency medical technician who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police while asleep in her own home in March, the cadet responded: "Her justice was received on March 13, 2020," according to the screenshots.

The tweets surfaced on the same day academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck posted a video message condemning separate racial remarks made earlier this month by a retired captain and former Naval Academy trustee that disparaged admission by the academy of African Americans, Asian Americans and women.

Garas said that depending on the results of the investigation, the cadet could be disciplined under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or be dismissed from the academy.

Standage did not respond to requests from The Capital Gazette for comment, the newspaper said.