The US Coast Guard denied claims it’s revising its policies to reclassify hate symbols, including the swastika and nooses, as “potentially divisive” symbols — slamming the suggestion as “categorically false.”
The claim, first reported by the Washington Post on Thursday afternoon, picks apart the Coast Guard’s “Harassing Behavior Prevention, Response, and Accountability” manual that was approved this month.
The military branch flatly denied the outlet’s report that it was planning to reclassify its list of hate symbols.
“The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false,” Admiral Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the US Coast Guard, wrote in a statement on X. “These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy. Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished.”
“The Coast Guard remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering a safe, respectful and professional workplace. Symbols such as swastikas, nooses and other extremist or racist imagery violate our core values and are treated with the seriousness they warrant under current policy.”
The Coast Guard harassment manual lists six major changes coming to its policies.
The Washington Post’s report largely revolves around the fourth listed change, which states that “[t]he terminology ‘hate incident’ is no longer present in policy,” and the subsequent removal of the term “hate symbol” from the policies, which isn’t directly addressed under the major changes.
Instead, typical hate symbols like nooses, swastikas, and “any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups” are relegated under “potentially divisive symbols and flags,” according to the policy.
The US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard and published the new policy document on its own website, accused the Washington Post of “making things up” in a post on X.
In a meeting with America’s top generals and admirals in late September, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth promised a sweeping overhaul of the military’s policies that were creating “division.”
“More leadership changes will be made. Of that, I’m certain,” Hegseth said.
While the Coast Guard is not a part of the Department of War, it has been aligning its policies to meet several of Hegseth’s demands.
Many didn’t buy into the Coast Guard or DHS’s responses.
“Welcome to Donald Trump’s America, where swastikas are no longer considered hate symbols. This is unacceptable. Jewish Americans are less safe when antisemitic hate is normalized by our government,” the Jewish Democratic Council of America said in a statement to Haaretz.
Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat, said that the shift is “disgusting” and a gross attempt to “normalize hate.”
“Swastikas, nooses, Confederate flags are symbols of hate,” he plainly told the outlet.
The new policies laid out in the text will take effect on Dec. 15, according to the document.
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