Eight members of a Phillipsburgh, New Jersey high school wrestling team were banned from the state tournament and suspended for three days each after a photograph of them “lynching” a black wrestling dummy wearing a rival school’s t-shirt.

The students, who are white, surrounded the black wrestling dummy dressed in a Paulsboro High School t-shirt. According to the 2010 census, 36.7 percent of residents of Paulsboro, New Jersey are African-American, compared to only 7.5 percent of Phillipsburgh.

Attorney Scott Wilhelm, speaking on behalf of the students, said that “[w]hen we spontaneously set the scene and posed for the photograph, our sole purpose was to promote school spirit and portray our wrestling team as victor over two of our archrivals — Paulsboro High School and Kittatinny High School, and not for any other purpose.”

Wilhelm insisted that the dummy was not meant to represent a person of any particular race: “The inanimate figure in the photograph is a wrestling dummy, which is owned by the Phillipsburg High School, and is used in our daily practices, and is used by most high school wrestling teams.”

More: All-White N.J. Wrestling Team Says Lynching Photo of Black Dummy Was Meant ‘Innocently’