WA National Guard firefighters under investigation for posing with white supremacist flag during wildfires

A group of 12 wildland firefighters from the Washington National Guard (WNG) is currently under investigation for posing in a photo gathered around a white supremacist Rhodesian flag.

The group was battling the Little Giant fire earlier this month when they came together to take the photo, which has since been published on Instagram, according to The Seattle Times.

WNG spokesperson Joseph Siemandel said that the firefighters are “under investigation by their chain of command,” and added that the decision was a “poor choice” by all involved.

Flag has been linked to white supremacist violence, including the 2015 Charleston church massacre

In the photo, the firefighters stand in full gear, with their faces digitally blurred. Two members in the back row are holding up the green-and-white flag of Rhodesia, a Black-majority, white-ruled country in southern Africa that lasted from 1965 until 1979, when it collapsed in the territory that is now Zimbabwe.

Simandel noted that the picture was likely taken on either Aug. 13 or 14 during the Little Giant fire, which continues to burn in Chelan County. The fire has burned more than 150,000 acres.

Rhodesia was a British colony until its then-prime minister, Ian Smith, revolted and issued a “unilateral declaration of independence” that was intended to preserve white rule in the African state, at a time when others were moving toward majority rule.

Political and economic powers were left in the hands of a couple of white leaders and businessmen while the country’s population was roughly 90% Black. Most countries refused to recognize Rhodesia, and the United Nations imposed sanctions on the country, making it an international pariah.

Over more than a decade, the white leaders engaged in a “bush war” with the Black majority who were seeking liberation. Robert Mugabe was among those fighting for liberation and ultimately became Zimbabwe’s first prime minister.

The Rhodesian flag has been associated with white supremacy ever since, similar to the Confederate Stars and Bars. Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who killed nine Black members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, had a Rhodesian flag pictured on his website and a patch on his jacket, according to reports.

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