West Point Probes Photo Featuring Uniformed Cadets With Raised Fists

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The United States Military Academy at West Point is investigating a photo of cadets in uniform with their fists raised in the air.

Conservative bloggers believe the pose supports the Black Lives Matter movement, but the cadets said the gesture is nothing more than a symbol of unity and solidarity.

As CBS2's Dick Brennan reported, the female cadets took three group photos, but the one with the raised fists has also raised eyebrows.

The picture was sent to bloggers and The Army Times newspaper last week by people who were concerned it was a statement about police killings of unarmed African Americans.

Retired Brigadier General Donald Smith supports the West Point investigation.

"I thought it was a strange picture. Just the fact that people are making a fist. What were they trying to connote by that," he said.

Defense Department rules say, "...members on active duty should not engage in partisan political activity..."

"We follow orders from a chain of command, and for everyone to be out there just giving their own opinions would be absolutely detrimental to good order and discipline," Brig Gen Smith said.

Mary Tobin, a 2003 West Point graduate, mentors four of the women in the photograph. She said the cadets were merely showing pride at their accomplishments.

"They had no idea that the photograph would be viewed through any negative lens," she said.

Tobin also said there is a tradition at the academy of posing in 'old corps' photos. A way for current cadets to pay homage to earlier generations.

"Some of us need to check our biases at the door and ask ourselves -- why do we find something negative in that picture? Instead of finding something positive," Tobin said.

In sports, the raised fist has been a symbol of success as well as defiance.

Beyonce used it earlier this year at the Super Bowl halftime show and was accused of paying tribute to the Black Panthers a militant black power group.

Tobin said the cadets are not aligned with any political movements.

"This whole incident is a distraction to them. Their worry is that soldiers within their units that they will be leading soon will have an unfair impression about them," Tobin said.

The cadets in the photo are 16 of the 17 black women in the class of 2016 set to graduate in less than two weeks.