"Get Out": Coast Guard Commander Blasts Extremism After Swastika Found at New Jersey Training Center

A discovery of a swastika at the Coast Guard’s Cape May Training Center in New Jersey has triggered an internal investigation and a fierce rebuke from leadership. The Nazi symbol was found on a bathroom wall by an instructor, prompting Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday to personally address 900 recruits and staff. "Anyone who embraces or promotes hatred or extremist ideology—leave. Go. You have no place in the U.S. Coast Guard," Lunday stated in a blunt message.

The incident revives a heated debate over the Coast Guard's "Workplace Harassment Manual," which was criticized last November for allegedly reclassifying the swastika as "divisive" rather than a "hate symbol." Admiral Lunday has since debunked those claims, reaffirming that the service maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward extremist symbols, ensuring that such "symbols of hate" are immediately removed and investigated.