Thread by @weareoversight

Records we obtained and @USAToday reported on detail 13 major investigations into white supremacist activity in the Marine Corps and Navy and show military leaders have quietly discharged the people involved in the incidents.
americanoversight.org/the-u-s-milita…

The records “show a pattern in which military leaders chose to deal with personnel involved in extremism by dismissing them in ways that would not attract public attention.”
usatoday.com/in-depth/news/…

These are the first such records uncovered by our investigation of white supremacist or far-right activity or ideology among military personnel. The Marines previously sent us a spreadsheet with 29 complaints.
americanoversight.org/document/usmc-…

The spreadsheet, created by the Office of Manpower and Reserve Affairs, included complaints filed between May 2018 and July 2020. 4 complaints were categorized as extremist, 15 as supremacist, and 10 were classified as “other dissident activities.”

USMC also told us that they could not find records responsive to our request for studies concerning incidents of white supremacist activity or ideology. Given recent reporting on the prevalence of extremism in the military, this is concerning.

USMC also told us that the Judge Advocate Division’s Military Personnel Law Branch advised them that ensuing action recommended or executed by the agency in response to these incidents “is not tracked and there is no searchable database from which to retrieve it.”

In other words, it seems that the result of these 29 complaints, and other potential instances of white supremacy and extremism in the Marine Corps, is not currently being tracked.

In response to our #FOIA request, the U.S. Navy also told us it doesn’t track white supremacist incidents or hate crimes. The Navy also indicated that it “does not conduct studies concerning incidents of white supremacy.”
americanoversight.org/document/navy-…

There’s more. Last May, we asked the Air Force for reports or studies of incidents of white supremacy among military personnel.

It said it had no such records.
americanoversight.org/document/no-re…

We also asked the Army for similar documents and in August, the Army Research Institute also told us it found no such records.
americanoversight.org/document/no-re…

A three-page spreadsheet provided by the Coast Guard summarized seven separate incidents from late 2018 through early 2020. americanoversight.org/document/uscg-…

In its cover letter, the Coast Guard indicated that it was unable to release records under the Privacy Act because the information sought was exempt material compiled for law enforcement purposes.

We uncovered these records as part of our investigation into domestic terrorism and right-wing extremism, but our inquiry still ongoing. Learn more here:
americanoversight.org/the-u-s-milita…