Coast Guard defends dropping hate label for swastikas, nooses, Confederate flags
The Coast Guard is implementing a new policy change to no longer refer to displays of swastikas and nooses as a "hate incident" — and distributed new guidance to remove...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Coast Guard is implementing a new policy change to no longer refer to displays of swastikas and nooses as a "hate incident" — and distributed new guidance to remove the term "hate incident" from its vocabulary altogether. While the service previously identified displays of swastikas, nooses, Confederate flags and other supremacist or antisemitic symbols as a "potential hate incident," the new guidance now labels them as "potentially divisive symbols and flags." The change was first reported by The Washington Post. Despite the alteration, the Coast Guard claims that it remains committed to barring the symbols from the service and penalizing those who display them. Additionally, it said that it still considers the symbols "extremist imagery." "The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false," Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital. "These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy." 'OPTICAL ILLUSION' SWASTIKA FLAGS DISTRIBUTED TO MULTIPLE CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES PROMPT INVESTIGATION: SOURCES "Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished," Lunday said. "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 new guidances state that the public display of the Confederate battle flag is banned and will be pulled from all Coast Guard workplaces, common access areas, public areas or operating facilities. Previous guidance also prohibited such public display of the Confederate battle flag. Commanding officers and other leaders are instructed to inquire about public displays of other s…