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I only half understand this news item but isn't it saying that he deliberately made this hand gesture while on duty as an olympic official, having manoeuvred himself carefully so that it would be visible on TV? I don't know what he thought he was doing if not clandestinely referring to this meme. If he was just trying to subtly make the 'cool' hand gesture with hand by side while on TV, then that is behaviour that at least needs looking into on the grounds of it being baffling!
If a subcontractor for the Olympics was standing in front of a TV camera and made a thumbs-up gesture, do you think they should be reported to their superior and be given instruction in how to properly comport themselves to the media? Or the horns? I certainly don't. I consider the OK symbol to be exactly as innocuous as either of these - as noted by @naraburns, the farcical claim that it has any legitimate connection to white supremacy was astroturfed into existence circa 2017. Prior to that, it was not remotely difficult to find photos of public figures making the gesture, including such notable spokespeople for the white ethnostate as Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton. (For bonus points, here's one of Obama throwing up the horns too.) Only a certain class of extremely online Anglophone is even aware of the supposedly offensive meaning associated with this completely innocuous gesture: I would put money that if you asked this guy why he made a "white supremacist" gesture, he would sincerely have not the slightest clue what you were talking about.
If he was on crew and I was director, and he walked deliberately into shot and did something to steal focus from the Olympics, I would want to know and I probably wouldn't be very happy about it.
How many people would have heard about this if not for the journalist ratting him out?
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It's saying that's how the Brazilian reporter described things. Maybe it's true?
I mean... did you read my post? Assuming everything was as described by the Brazilian, the "circle game" is probably the most obvious explanation to anyone who is not Extremely Online. It was popularized (as noted in my links) by the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which still streams and airs in several languages around the world.
...really, though? "Someone is engaged in baffling behavior, I'd better report them to the authorities" is usually something progressive reporters get conspicuously concerned about and ask the general public to stop doing. Remember: this guy wasn't saying anything to anyone. He wasn't hurting anyone. He wasn't doing anything overtly aggressive or even, probably, actually against any rules. He was, at worst, making a hand gesture that some people sometimes associate with ideas they don't like. If you think that's the sort of thing that "needs looking into," like... hard disagree, I guess.
I admit I didn't click the circle game link, but having now done so, yeah that makes sense. I still think it is eminently reasonable to look into it though because he's an employee of a broadcast company messing around on camera during a broadcast.
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I don't think it's uncharitable at this point to say progressive reporters are not really concerned about stopping the general public from snitching.
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