An investigation by the Marine Corps into hazing at one of its training facilities found that a Muslim recruit was singled out last year for racist abuse by a pair of drunk drill instructors and was even forced into a clothes dryer while it was running.
The incident became public as part of an ongoing inquiry into the death of a different Muslim recruit, 20-year-old Raheel Siddiqui. Siddiqui's death, which was caused by his fall from a third floor stairwell, was initially ruled a suicide by the Marines. Officials told the Detroit Free Press that ongoing harassment by one of Siddiqui's drill sergeants may have contributed to his death.
Now, an ABC News report says that that same drill sergeant is also implicated in the case of a separate, unidentified Muslim Marine recruit, who told officials he was singled out for hazing at the Parris Island boot camp in South Carolina because of his faith.
According to the report, the recruit was ordered out of bed in the middle of the night by two seemingly intoxicated drill instructors. He was ordered to the shower and told to march in place, do push-ups and crunches while under the water.
He was then allegedly ordered to get inside a large clothes dryer by one of the drill instructors who told the recruit that the Marine Corps "pays him to weed out spies" and that he would discover the recruit's true identity, according to ABC News.
He was also asked if he was "part of 9/11."
The drill instructors then allegedly turned the dryer on with the recruit still inside. He suffered severe burns to his neck and shoulders.
The Marine Corps announced last week that as many as 20 drill instructors at the Parris Island camp will face administrative and criminal charges relating to ongoing recruit hazing and Siddiqui's death.
Siddiqui reportedly suffered a hazing and harassment incidents leading up to his eventual death. His record shows he had threatened to kill himself earlier in his training, but that report was later retracted.
On the day he died, his drill instructor forced him to repeatedly run the length of the barracks floor after he complained of a sore throat. The instructor then forcibly slapped him multiple times when he became unresponsive. Upon waking, Siddiqui immediately ran to the third floor balcony and leapt off.
In addition to the incidents described above, officials said there was extensive hazing across three platoons impacting around 250 recruits.