Coast Guard Denounces Swastika at Training Center

The U.S. Coast Guard has opened an internal investigation after a hand-drawn swastika was discovered in a men’s restroom at its primary recruit training installation in Cape May, New Jersey.

According to The Washington Post, an instructor found the symbol on Thursday at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. Commandant Kevin Lunday was informed Saturday and traveled from Washington to the site, where he addressed about 900 recruits and staff. He said the use of a swastika—widely recognized as a Nazi emblem tied to white supremacist ideology and the Holocaust—has no place in the service.

“Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology—get out. Leave,” Lunday said. “You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard, and we reject you.”

The drawing was removed, and the Coast Guard Investigative Service was directed to conduct a formal inquiry. In a notice to U.S. Congress, the Coast Guard said such conduct may be criminal, violates its core values, and will not be tolerated.

The incident comes after controversy in November over a draft document that appeared to categorize swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive” rather than explicit hate symbols, according to ABC News. The proposal drew broad criticism, and Lunday—then acting commandant—clarified that those symbols are banned.

Two Democratic senators subsequently held up his nomination to lead the United States Coast Guard until the language was removed from the service’s workplace harassment manual. Officials have since emphasized that the revised policy does not reflect Coast Guard values, a position Lunday reiterated Monday.

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