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Emory grad at center of social media political controversy

Some people say Jack Breuer, a White House intern, made a white-power gesture in a photo.

An Emory graduate is at the center of a political controversy after a photo of him taken at the White House has gone viral.

The Daily Mail posted a photo of Jack Breuer, who posed with other White House interns, in a photo with President Donald Trump. While most of the interns in the photo are giving a thumbs-up, Breuer appears to be making a white-power sign.

The post is now everywhere, and people are fighting over what it really means.

Some people believe the hand gesture is an adopted symbol of white supremacists like Richard Spencer or a protestor in Charlottesville, Ga., earlier this year.

11Alive couldn't find much on Breuer online.

An unverified Twitter profile created earlier this month has only about 40 followers and two tweets, which read, “In some of our intern pictures, I emulated the OK sign the president sometimes makes. That was foolish. I should have listened more closely to the commander-in-chief and give the thumbs-up. I'm proud of my Jewish heritage and strongly reject the hateful views associated with racist white power organizations. I would never make common cause with them.”

The Anti-Defamation League posted a story in May, saying the OK sign is not a hate symbol, just a social media hoax.

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