Marines knew infantryman shared extremist content online months before investigation, records show

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Seamus Hughes
@SeamusHughes
“6 months later — one day after The San Diego Union-Tribune asked about the Marine...the Corps launched a formal investigation that determined his actions violated military rules against extremism, reduced him in rank, then separated him from the military”
Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base sign outside the main gate of the base in Oceanside.
Marines knew infantryman shared extremist content online months before investigation, records show
The Marine was warned in 2019 about sharing racist material online, but investigation began six months later after Union-Tribune asked about him
sandiegouniontribune.com
10:48 AM · Mar 7, 2021

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2021-02-28/marines-knew-infantryman-shared-extremist-content-online-months-before-investigation-records-show

When Marine Corps leaders first found out a Camp Pendleton-based infantryman was claiming to be chairman of a nationalist organization and was sharing extremist material on social media, they counseled him to leave the group and remove some his posts but kept him among their ranks and sent him on deployment, recently released documents show.

Six months later — one day after The San Diego Union-Tribune asked about the Marine, then-Lance Cpl. Thomas Cade Martin — the Corps launched a formal investigation that determined his actions violated military rules against extremism, reduced him in rank, then separated him from the military, documents show.

Marine Corps regulations say it’s mandatory that any Marine found to be participating in extremist activities be processed for separation following the first substantiated case of misconduct. That process includes an administrative board hearing that can decide whether or not to remove him from the Marines.

Martin was the subject of a March 15, 2020, Union-Tribune report. In February, the newspaper obtained Martin’s investigation documents via the Freedom of Information Act. A large part of the report, 39 of 133 pages, was completely redacted.

A Marines spokeswoman said Martin’s case was handled appropriately by his chain of command when his actions came to their attention in August 2019, and again after the Union-Tribune’s inquiry in February 2020, which, documents show, is what kicked off the formal investigation.

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