WWE Fans Notice Referee Drake Wuertz Using Racist Hand Gesture In Photograph On Instagram

Despite his insistence over the last several months that WWE referee Drake Wuertz does not have specific leanings, he continues to dog whistle the exact opposite.

To recap his story, Drake Wuertz was discovered to be on the controversial social media site Parler before it had been shut down following the events of January 6th. His account was not only amplifying messages of white supremacy, but the account had also found itself following several controversial accounts, in addition to openly supporting and amplifying the baseless claims of the far-right conspiracy QAnon. Wuertz issued a statement sternly denying the claims despite the lengthy evidence to the contrary that these accounts belonged to him and amplified controversial beliefs and his ties to hate groups, including the Proud Boys who are classified as a terrorist organization in Canada.

Today on Instagram, Wuertz posted a photo with him and his fellow NXT referees in addition to WWE referee Scott Armstrong. While the entire group is holding up three fingers to signify the referee’s job, Wuertz holds his hand in a different manner, using the “okay” gesture instead of holding up three fingers like the remainder of his counterpart.

Wuertz holds up his hand with three fingers up in the “ok” gesture. While it used to be a simple gesture, over the last few years, white supremacy groups have adopted the gesture as a symbol of hate. The Anti-Defamation League lists the symbol in its “Hate on Display” database. Websites like 4chan and 8chan have used it in memes that promote hate and white supremacy to add to the fact the gesture has been taken over.

It’s a little disturbing Wuertz is holding it up in a photo with such a diverse cast of people, if this is the alleged intent. As of this writing, Wuertz has kept the photo up on his Instagram page, but he has limited the comments possibly to prevent some people from calling him out on the use of the gesture or even in support of him using it so the context isn’t given away.

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