The U.S. Coast Guard launched an internal investigation after a hand-drawn swastika was found at its primary recruit training center in Cape May, N.J., per The Washington Post.
The symbol was discovered on Feb. 19 by an instructor on a wall inside a men’s restroom. Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the branch, traveled from Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21 to address approximately 900 recruits and staff about the incident.
Confirming the episode, he stated: “Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology—get out. Leave. You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard, and we reject you.”
“We will not allow anyone to put a stain of hate on our United States Coast Guard,” Lunday added.
The drawing was removed, and the Coast Guard Investigative Service was directed to examine the incident.
“Such conduct is a crime, violates our core values, and has absolutely no place within our service,” the Coast Guard stated in a notification to Congress.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) condemned the vandalism, urging stronger action against antisemitism. Kim has backed federal legislation to combat antisemitism, but has previously voiced reservations about adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism.
“This is shocking, especially in our own backyard in New Jersey,” Kim stated. “Antisemitism has no place, anywhere. We can’t just call it out; we must work together to put an end to it and protect communities targeted by it.”
The discovery comes months after controversy over revisions to the Coast Guard’s workplace harassment manual, which had described swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive.”
Lunday, who was acting commandant at the time, stated that the language had been “completely removed” from the manual.
