A U.S. sailor who claimed another person aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush wrote racial slurs on his bed wall and trashed his rack, staged the entire incident himself, the Navy said, according to the Navy Times.
The sailor, Marquie Little, reportedly posted several pictures of the incident on Facebook in November.
Navy Times (Twitter)
“I proudly serve the Navy and this is what I’m receiving in return,” the sailor wrote in the Facebook post, which has since been deleted. “Somebody knows something.”
“It’s not my first time being called a word such as that,” Little said in a phone interview last month, Navy Times had reported. “It puzzled me as to who would do it and why they would do it.”
Navy Commander David Hecht said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) found inconsistencies in Little’s story.
In an email provided to Navy Times, Hecht wrote:
“NCIS supported command investigation following a claim of racially motivated vandalism aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush has determined that the alleged victim staged the incident himself. The United States Navy does not tolerate racial discrimination of any form and the well-being of our sailors is our top priority. Although the claims were ultimately determined to be unfounded, the chain of command used the incident to provide additional training to the crew and re-emphasized that vandalism and racism will not be tolerated. It has also been reiterated to the ship that the chain of command has an open door policy for reporting incidents of misconduct. The sailor who made these false claims has received appropriate administrative actions and additional counseling and training. He will remain a member of the crew and continue to perform his military duties.”
Little denied staging the vandalism, saying that NCIS had not conducted a proper investigation.
“And now I’m to be here looking like a bad guy for attention,” Little wrote in a text message to the Navy Times. “I have nothing to gain from doing such an incident but I have everything to lose.”
Last month, Little told Navy Times that he was fearful that those who vandalized his rack would go after him.
“Maybe the guy or guys that vandalized my rack would see me out in town,” he said. “I constantly have to look who’s giving me the side eye.”
