OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
11:40 AM – Friday, November 21, 2025
The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday adamantly denied a “fabricated” Washington Post report that claimed the service was planning to stop classifying swastikas and nooses as “hate symbols” in upcoming internal guidelines.
In a statement issued just hours after the article’s publication, Acting Commandant Admiral Kevin E. Lunday called The Washington Post’s reporting “categorically false.”
Acting Commandant of the Coast Guard Kevin Lunday said that the “claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false.”
According to Coast Guard leaders, the “fake news” Washington Post piece, published Thursday morning, cited what it described as forthcoming Coast Guard guidance set to take effect in December.
According to the report, the new policy would reclassify such imagery from “hate symbols” to “potentially divisive” symbols — a shift that critics warned could weaken efforts to track and combat White supremacy and antisemitism within the service.
The Washington Post story ignited a firestorm almost instantly. Jewish organizations thundered in outrage, civil-rights leaders decried a moral betrayal, and Democrat lawmakers pounced with blistering statements — framing the reported policy shift as a chilling surrender to extremism.
Within hours, however, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials fired back, insisting that no final policy existed that would weaken the bans, and any suggestion otherwise was false. The DHS labeled the story an “absolute ludicrous lie and unequivocally false.”
The Coast Guard confirmed that the final version of the guidance will retain the existing classifications without change.
As of Thursday evening, swastikas and nooses, in addition to other “recognized symbols of hate,” remain explicitly banned under Coast Guard policy, with violations subject to disciplinary action and mandatory reporting through the service’s extremism tracking system — officials added.
The Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of War.
The Washington Post updated its online article to include the Coast Guard’s denial but still stood by its original reporting.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!
Sponsored Content Below