5.4.22
A former Marine who was kicked out of the Corps for sharing white supremacist messages online is running for office in Kentucky. Thomas Cade Martin is currently running for District 4 constable in Bullitt County, but he was separated from the Marine Corps in September 2020 after posting a meme with the white supremacist slogan "not stolen, conquered" over a map of the U.S. and other white nationalist propaganda, reported Task & Purpose. “Martin’s premature discharge and rank are indicative of the fact that the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps’ expectations and standards,” said Marine spokeswoman Yvonne Carlock at the time. “Due to the associated administrative processes, further details are not releasable.” He had been serving as anti-tank missile gunner with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, at Camp Pendleton, California, when he was given a field grade non-judicial punishment and busted down from lance corporal to private first class, and he was later kicked out of the service branch.
In addition to his white supremacist social media posts, Martin founded an organization called the United States Nationalist Initiative, whose vice president Everett Corley was condemned by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in 2018 for appearing four years earlier on a white nationalist YouTube channel called "The Ethno State." He also commented that an Instagram showing Hitler's ghost in Paris gave him "chills," and he shared his hope for “future blue eyed blonde haired mistress” to “help contribute to the preservation of my lineage." Martin's campaign page on Facebook frequently mentions his Marine Corps service, as well as photos of him in uniform along with videos of him firing weapons, and he deletes comments from locals who point out his white supremacist background. He recently appeared alongside Corley, who served as a Donald Trump delegate and is running for Kentucky state Senate, at a candidates forum last month.
