Nooses found aboard Navy destroyer in Norfolk
Sailor targeted was offered transfer, Laboon commander says
The Navy is investigating a trio of hangman nooses aboard the USS Laboon, a Norfolk-based destroyer.
Those nooses targeted a specific service member whose name and race were not disclosed, according to Navy Times. They were reportedly found in separate instances near the same sailor’s sleeping rack last month.
Lt. Cmdr. Jason S. Fischer told Navy Times the individual targeted was offered a transfer, which was declined.
“The ship investigated this incident expeditiously after the rope was discovered,” he said, but provided no further details about the findings of the investigation.
This isn’t the first time a noose has been found aboard a Navy ship.
Navy Times reported that a noose was found on a Black seaman’s bunk on the Navy cruiser Lake Champlain in 2021 in San Diego. A naval investigation led officials to a sailor who reportedly confessed to the infraction.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin called on military officials to clampdown on racial extremism following the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the U.S. Capitol by rightwing extremists, according to Military Times.
Conservatives, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have mocked the U.S. military for being “woke,” which is a term used to mock people who are socially aware to a fault, according to critics.
When he unfavorably compared an inclusive U.S. recruiting ad to Russian military propaganda, Cruz was admonished by Illinois senator and Army veteran Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in 2004 while serving in Iraq. Duckworth was born in Thailand to a Chinese mother.
“Perhaps a U.S. Senator shouldn’t suggest that the Russian military is better than the American military that protected him from an insurrection he helped foment?” she said, referring to the Jan. 6 assault on the nation’s capitol where they both work.