Photos: US Marine Under Investigation for Sharing Alleged White Supremacist Propaganda

A USMC spokesperson confirmed to the San Diego Union-Tribune this week that Lance Cpl. Thomas Cade Martin, a 23-year-old infantryman with the service, is the subject of an investigation over possible violations of a Pentagon policy which prohibits military personnel from actively advocating for “supremacist, extremist, or criminal gang doctrine, ideology, or causes.”

Martin, who is based out of San Diego’s Camp Pendleton and currently deployed with the III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) in Okinawa, Japan, has shared nationalistic propaganda that asserts that the US was “conquered,” rather than stolen from the Native American tribes.

As a disclaimer, his Facebook profile bio notes that his “posts don’t represent the DOD or USMC.” It remains to be seen whether this advisory shields him from Pentagon regulations.

Martin is also the chairman of the United States Nationalist Initiative, which has over 1,400 followers on Facebook and was founded under the name American Nationalism in December 2014 - when Martin was aged between 17 and 18.

The organization’s website states that its primary mission is to “restore national pride” and encourage those in the US to be “proud of who we are, what we’ve accomplished, and what we plan to do.” Martin, who frequently posts quotes from himself on Facebook, also revealed that he had uniform insignias designed for his nationalist group.

“III MEF takes all allegations of misconduct seriously, whether on duty, off duty, or online,” 1st Lt. Ryan Bruce of the MEF told the Tribune in an emailed statement.

“Any form of racism or discrimination undermines the core values of the Marine Corps and is not tolerated. The command is thoroughly investigating this situation.”

Though Martin is currently deployed, he did take to Twitter late last month to assert that he “violated no articles of the [Uniform Code of Military Justice]” and allege that individuals were attempting to defame him.

According to the 23-year-old’s Facebook page, he believes that the word “racist,” along with “terms like xenophobe, homophobe, islamaphobe [sic], and anti-Semite,” are just “made up” tools used to “socially assassinate anyone who holds a differing viewpoint.”