Exposed: Marine Facebook page promoting sexual violence, photos of naked female Marines
This needs a serious legal intervention – and despite the inept leadership of our “Grab ’em by the pussy” Commander-on-the-Cheap, it looks like the USMC is on the case already.
The U.S. Marine Corps is investigating a veteran’s allegations that military personnel and other veterans distributed nude photos of female colleagues and other women as part of a social media network that promotes sexual violence.
Hundreds of Marines may be caught up in the scandal, the Marine Corps Times reported Sunday.
The revelation was first uncovered by a decorated combat veteran’s non-profit news site and reported Saturday by the Center for Investigative Reporting.
From the Marine Corps Times:
The U.S. Marine Corps is investigating allegations an unspecified number of military personnel and veterans allegedly distributed nude photos of female colleagues and other women as part of a perverse social media network that promotes sexual violence.
The explosive revelation was first reported by The War Horse and published Saturday via Reveal, part of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Potentially hundreds of Marines may be caught up in the scandal, which has shaken top Pentagon officials and prompted death threats against the Marine veteran who disclosed it. An undetermined number of nude photos were shared online by way of a Facebook group titled Marines United, according to the report. The community has nearly 30,000 members, mostly comprising active-duty U.S. Marines, Marine Corps veterans and British Royal Marines.
The unseemly episode is deeply embarrassing for the Marine Corps and the Defense Department, proud institutions that, like many college campuses around the country, have struggled to curtail widespread problems with sexual assault. At the same time, it exposes an unsettling rift within a segment of American society consistently regarded as reputable, honorable and trustworthy.
A Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon confirmed that an investigation is underway, telling Marine Corps Times on Saturday night that military officials are uncertain how many personnel may be involved. The spokesman, Maj. Clark Carpenter, referred additional questions to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, but that agency’s spokesman was not immediately available.
The Marines’ top general, Commandant Robert Neller, declined to comment specifically about the investigation, but he condemned the behavior that’s been alleged. “The success of every Marine, every team, every unit and command throughout our Corps is based on mutual trust and respect,” Neller said in a statement provided to Marine Corps Times. “I expect every Marine to demonstrate the highest integrity and loyalty to fellow Marines at all times, on duty, off-duty and online.”
The wheels of military justice are already in motion according to a follow-up story in today’s issue:
Military investigators are contemplating felony criminal charges for an unspecified number of U.S. Marines who participated in a secretive social media group that metastasized into a distribution pipeline for sharing nude photos of their female coworkers and a sordid message board where some allegedly encouraged one another to commit rape.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service on Monday confirmed that the agency is working to determine whether felony charges are warranted. A spokesman, Ed Buice, declined to provide further details or disclose how many military personnel are being investigated but said the probe, ongoing for weeks, could include active-duty personnel, military veterans and people unaffiliated with the military. NCIS routinely works with state and local law enforcement, Buice said.
The initial news report that exposed the scandal can be found here.
