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Coast Guard denies report it won't classify Swastikas & Nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month.
Instead, the Coast Guard will classify the Nazi-era insignia as “potentially divisive” under its new guidelines. The policy, set to take effect Dec. 15, similarly downgrades the classification of nooses and the Confederate flag, though display of the latter remains banned, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
Though the Coast Guard is not part of the Defense Department, the service has been reworking its policies to align with the Trump administration’s changing tolerances for hazing and harassment within the U.S. military. In September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed a review and overhaul of those policies, calling the military’s existing standards “overly broad” and saying they jeopardize troops’ combat readiness.
The Coast Guard declined to provide comment before publication of this report. Subsequent to publication, Coast Guard spokeswoman Jennifer Plozai said by phone that the service disagreed with The Post’s reporting but intended to look into the policy changes. “We will be reviewing the language,” Plozai said.
In a statement attributed to Adm. Kevin Lunday, the service’s acting commandant, the Coast Guard declined to address why its new policy no longer characterizes swastikas, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols. Lunday affirmed, though, that such symbols “and other extremist or racist imagery violate our core values and are treated with the seriousness they warrant under current policy.”
“Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished,” Lunday’s statement said.
A Coast Guard official who had seen the new wording called the policy changes chilling.
“We don’t deserve the trust of the nation if we’re unclear about the divisiveness of swastikas,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal.
The Coast Guard is a military service branch under the Department of Homeland Security and the purview of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. But the service, which has been central to President Donald Trump’s increased focus on homeland defense, has been swept up like the others in the administration’s rash of leadership firings and broader targeting of military culture.
Comment: Trumpian FILTH is slowly buy surely permeating every facet of the United States government.
Note- text emphasis in the Washington Post report was added.
The new order came hours after The Post reported the service would instead classify such symbols “potentially divisive” under guidelines set for release next month.
In a stunning and hasty reversal, the U.S. Coast Guard announced late Thursday that swastikas and nooses are prohibited hate symbols — erasing an attempt to soften their definition after the plan elicited furious backlash.
The abrupt policy change occurred hours after The Washington Post first reported that the service was about to enact new harassment guidelines that downgraded the meaning of such symbols of fascism and racism, labeling them instead “potentially divisive.” That shift had been set to take effect Dec. 15.
In a memo to Coast Guard personnel, the service’s acting commandant, Adm. Kevin Lunday, said the policy document issued late Thursday night supersedes all previous guidance on the issue.
“Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” Lunday wrote in his memo. “These symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, antisemitism, or any other improper bias.”
It was unclear Friday morning who had directed the attempt to reclassify such symbols as “potentially divisive” rather than hate symbols.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard under the purview of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, did not respond to queries Friday seeking to understand whether Noem or her staff at DHS had any involvement in attempting to classify swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive,” or whether the secretary had even known about the planned language change before The Post’s story was published.
Instead, the agency’s chief spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, issued a statement attacking The Post and falsely claiming that its initial reporting was “demonstrably false.”
“It is unfortunate,” she said, “that the Coast Guard must take time away from its mission to protect our nation to respond to these baseless smears and revolting lies.”
The tenor of McLaughlin’s message was sharply at odds with a statement from Lunday’s chief spokeswoman, Jennifer Plozai, who had acknowledged earlier Thursday that Coast Guard leadership intended to review the matter. Hours later, officials issued Lunday’s memo to the force along with the new policy document.
Comments
Following are excerpts from a current report in The Washington Post:
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
Comment: Trumpian FILTH is slowly buy surely permeating every facet of the United States government.
Note- text emphasis in the Washington Post report was added.
Following are excerpts from a current report in The Washington Post:
The new order came hours after The Post reported the service would instead classify such symbols “potentially divisive” under guidelines set for release next month.
These/those people........I will not, can not express my total thoughts here, about the D.C. crowd.