Donald Trump And KKK: Kansas University Cheerleaders Suspended For Picture Linking President-Elect And Ku Klux Klan

Four members of the University of Kansas cheerleading squad were suspended from performing after a photograph surfaced that featured three of them wearing matching “K” sweaters with the caption “Kkk go trump.”

The university’s athletic department said Tuesday: “The four (one female, three male) individuals referenced in the recent Snapchat incident are suspended from performing and will remain suspended while Kansas Athletics and the University complete their inquiries into this incident.”

Associate athletic director Jim Marchiony reportedly said Monday authorities were made aware of the picture during a men’s basketball game. The athletic department said a Twitter user reported the Snapchat picture posted on Lili Gagin’s account and she was subsequently suspended from performing while the issue was under investigation.

The school reportedly called the incident “unacceptable.”

Gagin denied she posted the picture on her account, saying: “I’m appalled that a snapchat was put out on my snapchat and posted to my account. I would [have] never done that & I apologize that it happened.”

“Some of the arguments you see are her friends saying that, you know, someone else edited it. She didn't have her phone,” a University of Kansas student told AOL. “What my thing is, if we fail to act on this properly rather if it was purposeful or not, directly or indirectly, it's still related to a racist past, therefore someone has to suffer consequences.”

The student added that some people believed the post to be racist while others believed it was calling President-Elect Donald Trump racist.