WASHINGTON (TNND) — A U.S. senator said on Wednesday that she is “placing on hold” her nomination for the top Coast Guard job because leaders appear to have “backtracked” on a commitment clearly stating swastikas and nooses are considered hate symbols and prohibited from being displayed.
“As it appears that Admiral Lunday may have backtracked on his commitment to me to combat antisemitism and hate crimes and protect all members of the Coast Guard,” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., wrote on social media. “I will be placing a hold on his nomination until the Coast Guard provides answers.”
In November, the Coast Guard released a new lawful order and policy, which “doubles down” on the military branch’s prohibition on hate symbols, including swastikas, nooses, and the Confederate flag.
The military branch’s revision of its hazing and harassment policy recategorized hate symbols to instead be noted as “potentially divisive,” and was a shift from the previous policy stating symbols were “widely identified with oppression or hatred” and called their display “a potential hate incident.”
However, Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson, commented on social media saying there “was never a downgrade” in policy language.
McLaughlin clarified that the change “strengthens our ability to report, investigate, and prosecute those who violate longstanding policy.”
“The symbols listed in the policy include, but are not limited to, nooses, swastikas, and any symbols or flags that have been adopted by hate-based groups to represent supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, antisemitism, or any other form of bias,” she said.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
The nomination pause comes as antisemitism has been on the rise, most recently, a mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
National Headline
