The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has changed the language of a new policy regarding the display of hate symbols including swastikas and nooses after it was revealed it had planned to describe them as “potentially divisive.”
The USCG used this phrase for the first time earlier this month, The Washington Post revealed, shifting from a 2019 policy stating that the symbols were “widely identified with oppression or hatred,” meaning their display would be “a potential hate incident.”
After the initial policy change became public, Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen said it “rolls back important protections against bigotry and could allow for horrifically hateful symbols like swastikas and nooses to be inexplicably permitted to be displayed.”
But on Thursday, the USCG changed the policy again, saying that “divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” adding that this included “a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups.”
“This is not an updated policy but a new policy to combat any misinformation and double down that the U.S. Coast Guard forbids these symbols,” the USCG said.
This is a developing story. More to follow.