Hawaii-based Marine Lance Cpl. Mason Mead is getting booted from the Corps following a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into racist social media posts, according to Marine officials.
Mead “admitted guilt to an Article 92 charge, advocating supremacist ideology on May 7,” 1st Lt. Jose Uriarte, a Marine spokesman, told Marine Corps Times in an emailed statement.
“His discharge will be characterized as Under Other Than Honorable Conditions” and he is “in the process of being discharged pending the completion of final administrative and medical requirements for separation,” Uriarte said.
Mead’s pending separation from the Corps was first reported by Military.com.
Mead, who is assigned to 1st Battalion, 3d Marines, came under investigation for a series of racists posts from the Twitter handle @Jacobite_Edward, which espoused Nazi propaganda.
The Corps has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to active participation in hate groups and has been separating Marines for ties to supremacist groups.
In 2018, Lance Cpl. Vasillios G. Pistolis was booted from the Corps for his alleged connections to neo-Nazi organization known as Atomwaffen Division.
“The Marine Corps takes every instance of misconduct seriously, whether on duty, off duty, or online. Any form of racism or discrimination undermines the core values of the Marine Corps and is not tolerated,” Uriarte said.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
