The Marine Corps fires a recruit after discovering photos of him taking part in a neo-Nazi Patriot Front rally
- A young man with ties to several extremist hate groups was released from a Marine Corps training program in December
- It emerged that Christopher Semok, who pledged himself in September, was a member of several nationalist and anti-Semitic organizations
- He said he had separated from each organization prior to his employment
- The US military continues to try to eliminate right-wing extremists and other extremists from its ranks
The Marine Corps released a man from its Delayed Entry Program after admitting he had belonged to extremist groups before reporting for duty.
In September, Christopher Semok became a poolee — a recruit training with Marine Corps Recruiters — but pictures surfaced on social media in November of Semok appearing to be attending a rally for the white nationalist group Patriot Front.
The pictures were posted on a Twitter account that belongs to the Atlanta branch of Antifa.
After the images surfaced online, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command said the institution had become aware that a Poolee could have ties to extremist groups.
In September, Christopher Semok became a poolee — a recruit training with Marine Corps Recruiters — but pictures surfaced on social media in November of Semok appearing to be attending a rally for the white nationalist group Patriot Front
Semok was allegedly a member of several white supremacist hate groups, including the Patriot Front, the National Socialist Movement and the Goyim Defense League
This week, the Corps announced that the executive officer at the Marine Corps recruiting station in Tampa had conducted “a preliminary investigation” into the Poolee’s past affiliations, which began in December.
“During the investigation, Mr. Semok admitted that he was associated with neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic groups who were active on social media and at activist demonstrations,” the Corps press release said.
Semok also claimed that the reason he failed to disclose his affiliation with the groups to the Marine Corps was because he allegedly severed ties with them a month before his original enlistment.
The publication added that it “takes allegations of racism, fascism and other forms of discrimination seriously.”
“In the case of Mr. Semok, RS [Recruiting Station] Tampa felt it was in the best interests of national security, Mr. Semok not in the DEP[Delayed Entry Program]let it go, it said.[DelayedEntryProgram’itwenton[DelayedEntryProgram’itwenton
Semok was allegedly a member of several white supremacist hate groups, including the Patriot Front, the National Socialist Movement and the Goyim Defense League.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Patriot Front was responsible for the “vast majority” of white supremacist propaganda circulated in the United States in recent years.
It roots his behavior in the belief that his European ancestors conquered America and that it is therefore theirs alone.
The National Socialist Movement is a small neo-Nazi group best known for holding public rallies and protests in Nazi-style uniforms.
The Goyim Defense League is a small group of scattered individuals responsible for dozens of anti-Semitic propaganda events each year. Hatred of Jews unites the loose network.
The boy appears to have gone by a variety of names, including Christopher Leblanc and “Ryan FL.”
Christopher Leblanc aka Christopher Semok moved to Spokane, Washington last month.
He has now officially joined the National Socialist movement. Leblanc/Semok will likely remain in Spokane with NSM leaders Eddie McBride & Jamie McBride (Larson).
Image: February NSM video pic.twitter.com/AUKf9IpEBX
– ATL Antifascists (kolektiva.social/@AtlantaAntifa) (@afainatl) March 1, 2022
In December 2021, the Department of Defense will update its definition of what constitutes involvement in extremist activity.
A previous definition under Task and Purpose allowed military personnel to belong to extremist groups as long as they were not active participants.
Attempts by the Department of Defense to remove the presence of right-wing extremists from its active roster became even clearer after the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
However, a challenge remains in trying to implement a social media screening process to identify extremists during the recruitment process.
Katherine Kuzminski, the program director at the Center for a New American Security, told Military.com that the primary responsibility for social media scrutiny rests with recruiters and unit-level commanders.
However, it is unclear how stringently it must be implemented and what exactly it should contain.
“What if someone has an anonymous account? How many searches on Google should they go through? Everyone says a like isn’t a recommendation, but what if they like a neo-Nazi page?’ She said.