Marine drill instructor sentenced to 10 years in prison for targeting Muslim recruits - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]A military jury has sentenced a Marine Corps drill instructor to 10 years behind bars for tormenting and physically abusing young recruits, especially Muslims, including one who later killed himself. Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix on Thursday was found guilty of hazing and maltreatment of over a dozen recruits at the Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. The 34-year-old Iraq War veteran was convicted of dozens of criminal counts as the eight-member jury determined he kicked, punched and choked trainees including targeting three Muslim-Americans whom he allegedly taunted as "terrorist" and "ISIS." He also pressured at least of the Muslim recruits to get into an industrial clothes dryer. The jury at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Friday sentenced Felix to military prison, reduced his rank to private and also ordered that he forfeit all pay and receive a dishonorable discharge. "He wasn't making Marines. He was breaking Marines," prosecutor Lt. Col. John Norman told jurors Wednesday, adding that Felix was a "bully" who particularly "picked out three Muslim recruits for special abuse because of their Muslim faith." Defense counselor Navy Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Bridges declined a request by The Associated Press to comment on the conviction and sentencing Friday. During the trial, Bridges argued that testimony by recruits are boot-camp stories that are conflated, contradictory and "blown out of proportion," the AP reported. ... Raheel Siddiqui, a 20-year-old from Taylor, Michigan, jumped to his death on March 18, 2016, after having been “forcefully slapped” in the face between “one and three times” by his drill instructor, according to a report obtained by ABC News from Marine Corps officials in September 2016. He then "stood, ran through the back hatch (exit) of the squad bay, and vaulted the railing of the stairwell, causing him to fall from the third deck of the barracks to the access stairs below," the report said. At the time Siddiqui had been complaining that his throat hurt and he “would not speak or answer when prompted.” He had fallen to the floor grabbing his neck “in apparent pain and failing to comply with orders to respond.” The report said Siddiqui's drill sergeant insisted on an “an acceptable response” that precipitated his slapping the trainee. The 2016 report also found that Siddiqui’s drill instructor was alleged “to have engaged in serious misconduct with a previous platoon, including hazing and verbal and physical abuse of a Muslim recruit.” Substantiation of those allegations should have led to his suspension as a drill instructor, according to the report. Siddiqui's drill instructors weren't named in the report but Felix was one of them, according to The Associated Press. ... [b]In another case, Felix was accused of ordering former recruit Lance Cpl. Ameer Bourmeche into an industrial-size clothes dryer and turning it on as he demanded Bourmeche renounce his Muslim faith. Bourmeche, now a 23-year-old lance corporal at Camp Pendleton in California, testified during the trial that he twice affirmed his faith and twice Felix and another drill instructor order him to climb inside the dryer.[/b] Bourmeche alleged they turned on the dryer with him inside three separate times while asking whether he renounced Islam. Fearing for his life after a third bruising spin, Bourmeche said, he told them he was no longer Muslim. He was then allowed to get out of the dryer, he said.[/quote] [url]http://abcnews.go.com/US/marine-drill-instructor-10-years-prison-hazing-recruits/story?id=51083336[/url] [url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/11/09/military-jury-convicts-marine-drill-instructor-who-targeted-muslims/[/url] [url]https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/us/marine-drill-instructor-sentenced.html[/url] What a freaking nightmare and monster. Makes Full Metal Jacket seem pleasant in comparison.

I understand toughening up Marines, but half this shit seems just pointless. Like telling someone to get into a dryer and denounce their religion? That's just retarded.

What a racist piece of shit.

[QUOTE]Bourmeche, now a 23-year-old lance corporal at Camp Pendleton in California, testified during the trial that he twice affirmed his faith and twice Felix and another drill instructor order him to climb inside the dryer.[/QUOTE] So whos the other guy?

[QUOTE=WrathOfCat;52880948]So whos the other guy?[/QUOTE] I didn't include the full article, but in various sources on this news there is tidbits of exclusive information here or there. Might be in one of those. I tried to get the main charges and points in the OP.

[QUOTE=Tudd;52880926][url]http://abcnews.go.com/US/marine-drill-instructor-10-years-prison-hazing-recruits/story?id=51083336[/url] [url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/11/09/military-jury-convicts-marine-drill-instructor-who-targeted-muslims/[/url] [url]https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/us/marine-drill-instructor-sentenced.html[/url] What a freaking nightmare and monster. Makes Full Metal Jacket seem pleasant in comparison.[/QUOTE] I appreciate the comparison because Full Metal Jacket was actually filmed there. (Edit) Debunked, check below. FMJ only took place on Parris.

Whenever I went through, there was word that some instructors were in trouble for dousing their recruits in bleach. That place is fucked up yo.

[QUOTE=kyle877;52881236]Whenever I went through, there was word that some instructors were in trouble for dousing their recruits in bleach. That place is fucked up yo.[/QUOTE] Shit like this makes the Marines seem more like a redneck frat club than a prestigious military institution like they want to appear as.

[QUOTE=The Rifleman;52880941]What a racist piece of shit.[/QUOTE] Where are you getting racist from?

[QUOTE=Lil_Roach;52881562]Where are you getting racist from?[/QUOTE] Uh, the Muslim part???

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;52881530]Shit like this makes the Marines seem more like a redneck frat club than a prestigious military institution like they want to appear as.[/QUOTE] As a former Marine, you're not entirely wrong.

[QUOTE=Lil_Roach;52881562]Where are you getting racist from?[/QUOTE] If you're implying that "muslims are not a race then therefore it's not racism", you're basically splitting hairs.

[QUOTE=Xanadu;52881211]I appreciate the comparison because Full Metal Jacket was actually filmed there.[/QUOTE] it was actually filmed in the UK iirc, they did intend to base it off Parris Island though [QUOTE=kyle877;52881578]As a former Marine, you're not entirely wrong.[/QUOTE] I am compelled to disagree because I've made some of the best friends of my life there and they are average, normal people. I'm not trying to discredit what happened, but I didn't once see a drill instructor ever lay his hands on a recruit. I understand that it still may happen, but it is by no means a common occurrence.

iirc there were people here defending this as just part of life in the military and looking down on users who viewed this as abhorrent, kind of stupid in retrospect

[QUOTE=DarklytheGreat;52881575]Uh, the Muslim part???[/QUOTE] yeah i mean come on dude dont you know all muslims are brown (which is not racist fosho) making this a race issue [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitpost" - Novangel))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=milktree;52881589]it was actually filmed in the UK iirc, they did intend to base it off Parris Island though I am compelled to disagree because I've made some of the best friends of my life there and they are average, normal people. I'm not trying to discredit what happened, but I didn't once see a drill instructor ever lay his hands on a recruit. I understand that it still may happen, but it is by no means a common occurrence.[/QUOTE] About 80% of the people I met in the infantry (I was a machinegunner) were the biggest dip-spitting, kill-happy, borderline psychopaths ever. I'm not gonna use anecdotal evidence to say that's how it actually is for everyone, but my personal experience left an extremely bad taste in my mouth regarding most of my other Marines.

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;52881530]Shit like this makes the Marines seem more like a redneck frat club than a prestigious military institution like they want to appear as.[/QUOTE] UncleJimemma was [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1537508&p=51191296&viewfull=1#post51191296"]defending hazing really hard a while back when there was a news article about somebody complaining about it.[/URL] The mentality of [url=https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1537508&p=51191429&viewfull=1#post51191429]"if you can't put up with it then you're a pussy, I did it so now it's your turn"[/url] would explain it and the apparent lack of any real boundary between "making sure you're tough enough for your job by putting you through the wringer" and "beating the shit out of your recruits for fun".

[QUOTE=milktree;52881589]it was actually filmed in the UK iirc, they did intend to base it off Parris Island though[/QUOTE] That's interesting, apparently the entire movie was. Never got near the original Parris Island despite being an SC native, but considering it's still in use, I'm kinda glad. Been to Fort Jackson though.

As a Parris Island Marine myself, it’s too bad this will be all anyone really knows or understands of the Marine Corps and their recruit training. I had some of the most respectable and downright disciplined DI’s I could have imagined that they left me with an image of “the typical DI” in my head forever. But if it’s one thing they always tell you, no matter what you do or who you are, the moment you’re found out to be a Marine and you do something fucked up or stupid, everything reflects immediately back on the Corps. You go from Joe Schmo to “Former Corporal Joe Schmo of the United States Marine Corps”. As my CO used to say for practically every liberty brief: “You could build a hundred bridges and be an amazing engineer but the moment you fuck a goat...you’re forever the goat fucker. So don’t fuck the goat!” This is just both sad and upsetting. The DI is an asshole and total disgrace to the Corps and he and everyone else like him have put to shame every honorable Marine DI before them and with them. Parris Island is quite the experience as is. We don’t need dumbasses like this fucking it up all together now. These DI’s and this one in particular seriously fucked the goat.

[QUOTE=kyle877;52881603]About 80% of the people I met in the infantry (I was a machinegunner) were the biggest dip-spitting, kill-happy, borderline psychopaths ever. I'm not gonna use anecdotal evidence to say that's how it actually is for everyone, but my personal experience left an extremely bad taste in my mouth regarding most of my other Marines.[/QUOTE] That description fits a small group of dudes from my high school that tried to join the marines. They couldn't wait to go kill some "hajis", bought qurans to burn at bonfires, they would all rocked the same buzz cut, and were just generally uncomfortable to be around. I'm pretty sure most of them didn't make it through basic though.

[QUOTE=Reds;52881607]UncleJimemma was [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1537508&p=51191296&viewfull=1#post51191296"]defending hazing really hard a while back when there was a news article about somebody complaining about it.[/URL] The mentality of [url=https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1537508&p=51191429&viewfull=1#post51191429]"if you can't put up with it then you're a pussy, I did it so now it's your turn"[/url] would explain it and the apparent lack of any real boundary between "making sure you're tough enough for your job by putting you through the wringer" and "beating the shit out of your recruits for fun".[/QUOTE] this is specifically what I was referring to

I was 3rd Battalion in boot which has a reputation of being fucking awful. I went in expecting it to be a lot easier than it was going to be, I knew I'd be miserable and it'd be the hardest thing I'd done at that point but I bought in to seeing the documentaries and the Old Corps New Corps bullshit and thought DI's wouldn't be abusive anymore. Ended up with a DI who was a Scout Sniper and two infantrymen. They all told us from day one they don't care if they get fired because they've done their time and ready to leave anyway, and they were going to do to us what happened to them. Was a lot of abusive shit that happened, got choke slammed within the first day and repeatedly after, they encouraged fighting everywhere along with the other DI's in our company, and we'd regularly beat the shit out of each other in platoon and against other platoons everywhere. Can't name a place we didn't end up fighting, church, chow, the range. Everywhere. If you thought it was bullshit, which a lot of us did, then other recruits, mostly the guide and squad leaders (the recruit leaders basically) would call you a pussy or beat the shit out of you, and of course the DI's would encourage that, they exclusively chose the strongest, most violent, and belligerent fucking pricks they could for the job and molded them to be even worse (they were all basically your standard highschool bully, but I watched and saw what little good they had in them get sucked away as the DIs molded them into their idea of a killer. They were the only ones who the DIs seemed to care about and regularly got special treatment, but also got molded to be these fucking monsters and I know a lot of them seriously struggled with coming to terms with what they became later). They wanted to make us killers they said but it basically destroyed any team building that might have happened, made us hate each other and turned our platoon into various cliques as people segregated because they just didn't want to deal with the bullshit from the other tryhard recruits, or refused to speak to the guy's who lagged behind because they were 'pussies' and shouldn't even have been Marines. When you shove people in a corner it makes them worse, and the DI's very openly targeted guys and even at one point had the squad leaders and guide pull a recruit from his rack in the middle of the night and beat the shit out of him. We all laughed it off at the time but looking back I wish I did something. We also played 'bleach games', which I look back at and laugh, but it basically consisted of them locking the doors and windows, cranking the heat, absolutely filling the barracks with bleach and then having us 'race' through it by holding a brush on the ground and running with our feet. Bleach would splash up into people's faces and give them burns, had several guys with marks and I didn't breath correctly for almost a year, running was hell and I was constantly told it's because I sucked dick but it was actually because it had thoroughly ruined my lungs. There was a lot of shit like that. One of them did get fired for being openly belligerent to our 1st Sergeant, who seemed to be only DI who actually somewhat cared about our well being, and for forcing the squad leader's and guides to eat around 12 chows and 40 cliff bars a person in less than twenty minutes, chugging Gatorade whenever they threw up, because one idiot stole a pack of peanut butter because they consistently didn't give us a chance to eat. He was already leaving the Corps and couldn't give a shit. The other guy they investigated, the worst of the bunch, got cleared in investigation and promoted. The suicide and the Muslim guy who got put in the dryer were in my company, though joined after me. And hell, they did treat our one Muslim kid like shit. They constantly told us we should kill every man woman and child in Afghanistan because they're inhuman. And I get where they were coming from, they had done their time and we knew they saw awful things, the Scout Sniper, the most abusive one, even had tattoos of every friend he lost along his body from what I remember. And there were a lot. But still, it's not right to do that. They also had him constantly pray in the middle of the barracks while we were formed up, and would demand to know why he worshipped a moon God and shit, berating him on theology even when none of them were really religious or knew much about it. Of course the guy was hardly 18 and not super religious and couldn't tell them. Since the recruits all wanted to be like the DI's and idolized them, me included despite the odd doublethink of hating them at the same time, most of the recruits would treat him like shit over it too and talk about how much they wanted to murder Hajjis and shit, war crimes we talked about were laughed off and even celebrated at points. It's fucked up, really fucked up. At the time I knew it was and I didn't say anything because I thought that's just how it was, and I didn't want to be outcasted like those who tried to speak out. As years have passed, I've realized how fucking awful it all was and feel guilty for participating in some of it. I was treated like I was Human scum by my entire platoon until I beat the shit out of my rack mate, and then just started fighting everybody. If you beat someone up, you were good to go, if not, you're a garbage Marine who shouldn't be in. I didn't even get a reprieve at the end. I went in with the mentality that it will be worth it in the end, that our DI's would turn around and explain to us why they did what they did and treat us like Humans. I knew we weren't shit just because we got through bootcamp, but I thought at the end of bootcamp it'd be about building us back up and treating us like adults. Instead, when my DI got to me to give me my EGA and shake our hand, he called me a dumb fuck who should have never earned the title because I was so tired from being up for about three days during the Crucible that I put out the wrong hand to shake. I thought I'd cry in joy when I got it but after he then dropped it on the ground, chipping it, and dropped it in my hand, I felt literally nothing. That was the moment I was broken, I had been reserving all my emotions for when it got better and at that moment I realized it was never going to. We got treated like shit after, they still played fuck fuck games, at one point they dressed us up like recruits who just got on the island and marched us around like we were in processing so we'd know we weren't really Marines. The veteran community has a serious issue with normalizing it and saying it's 'fine' and 'necessary'. I was ready to take abuse, get hit and be miserable and broken down to be built up and all that shit, but none of it ever felt like it had any real reason, it all felt like it was born out of the DI's wanting to inflict as much pain as possible in anyway they could. I recognize it strengthened me a lot as a person, I was weak and honestly disgusting before I joined, and the Marines changed my life far for the better in so many ways, physically, mentally and socially, and that started at Bootcamp when I dropped near 60 pounds of weight and learned how to toughen myself mentally and not let adversity stop me. But it also gave me suicidal depression I hadn't had in a long time, made me nearly psychopathic for years as I failed to feel any real emotional response to anything, and left me with fucked up lungs and a beat up body. When I got back to my friends and family, I was a lot more abusive and aggressive, despite them being kind and understanding with me. I thought I was just being funny and cool, but I realize now I was just being needlessly physical and rude because I'd been conditioned (in three fucking months) to feel like the only way to be accepted was if I beat the shit out of somebody. Feeling like life would never get better and not having been taught how to be a good [I]Marine[/I], instead of a mindless recruit, I didn't take care of myself and gained half the weight back, and didn't loose it and get back into proper shape until a bit under a year ago when I got to my unit and realized the Marine Corps wasn't as fucking awful as BC makes you think it is. I'm happy to say I'm in a much better place again, emotionally and physically, but it was an arduous road I constantly wanted to end at any moment. This post wasn't meant to be this long, sorry, but this has basically been on my chest for years now and I've literally never talked about it. Lot of it spilled out as I went and remembered and thought on it and it was a bit hard to type. I might have spilled before on here or elsewhere but I don't really remember and I don't think I was entirely against it at the time. If you read this post and recognize me, I'm sorry if I got something wrong or you think I'm a piece of shit or already did, but the shit that happened was fucking stupid and somebody needs to have talked about it eventually besides small groups of Marines bullshitting about how badly they were treated at Bootcamp and pretending like we're pussies if we think it wasn't right. I know I'll never be able to post this on Facebook or anywhere else public, because I've seen what happens to Marines who talk about it like this. Thanks for reading my ramblings if you did. [B]Edit: [/B]I was notified by a post below that Sergeant Michael Eldridge, my senior Drill Instructor and one of the DI's being charged was in fact not fired as I was led to believe.

We gotchu fam, that shit sounds insane. thanks for sharing. people should be aware of that stuff before joining.

I'm pretty speechless after reading that. I suppose I should be grateful my time was relatively pain free even though I could be a shit bag at times and was constantly fucked with. I graduated in fall of 2013 2nd battalion. I've been going through suicidal depression as well but it makes me feel a little hopeful seeing how the things you faced were much worse.

I wonder if part of it might be anything to do with how instructors are selected. When I went through Army BCT, my platoon's Drill Sergeants all said they'd been randomly selected for the job. They were very up front about telling us that they didn't want to be there, and that they hated us privates. Nearly everyone, from the 12N SSG to the psychotic 11B SFC, would have rather been either out of the Army or back in their respective job fields (or, in the 11Bs case, training new 11Bs instead of a bunch of pogs). Out of the 12 in our company, I can think of one or maybe two who actually volunteered for the job (the one I knew of for sure was a damn good instructor, if more than a little psychotic, but I digress). The weird thing is, my dad went through back in '86, and he told me all of his Drill Sergeants had volunteered for the billet. I wonder what changed?

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;52882478] The weird thing is, my dad went through back in '86, and he told me all of his Drill Sergeants had volunteered for the billet. I wonder what changed?[/QUOTE] That’s what I’ve noticed. A lot of older veterans I talk to say that instructors were volunteers or pulled out of a hat that they put their name in, essentially.

I've not served in the military myself (asthma and pollen allergy prevents me from doing it), but I got a buddy who used to be a sergeant in the Royal Danish Army. He trained a badge of recruits, and it's apparently something every sergeant has to do. There's no volunteering or being forced per-se: they're told that when they apply to train as a sergeant, they will have to train a group of new recruits once they've been promoted. Dunno how it works in other countries, but it always struck me as a good way of doing it.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;52882484]That’s what I’ve noticed. A lot of older veterans I talk to say that instructors were volunteers or pulled out of a hat that they put their name in, essentially.[/QUOTE] Yeah, part of it could be that Drill Sergeant was a billet that netted you a shit ton of promotion points. Nowadays we're just coming off Afghanistan and Iraq. Up until recently, combat experience and time spent downrange was given priority for promotion points. I went in 2014, so maybe things are starting to change or will change soon, once the OIF and OEF vets start to dwindle from the promotion pool.

isn't this the same incident a bunch of people were defending a while back? glad something was done about it

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;52882478] The weird thing is, my dad went through back in '86, and he told me all of his Drill Sergeants had volunteered for the billet. I wonder what changed?[/QUOTE] It’s possible but my understanding was that a surprisingly high amount of Marines actually do want to become DI’s or Instructors themselves (shooting/range instructors being the most coveted as well as SOI instructors). It could be a combination of factors but from what my experience in the Corps taught me, “Peace Corps” or the peace time Marine Corps is suffering from hard chargers getting bored or monotonous routine. I went in 2012-2016, I was an 0341 Mortarman (81s Platoon specifically) and my unit had just come back from their combat deployment to Afghanistan (they were on the 6 month rest and refit before starting the next deployment workup when I arrived). So many came back with a massive chip on their shoulders for that one combat deployment and as it would turn out, the next 4 years of my service were met with training to deploy, train and patrol overseas on 2 MEUs only to come back and train some more and then repeat the same deployment routine again until my contract was up. Marines that are trained to see combat get bored. They get complacent and there’s a lot of “admin time” in the rear when you’re not out dropping rounds in the field (hey, everything costs money). I wouldn’t be surprised if this Gunny, POG or Grunt, suffered from that monotonous routine and acceptance that “kids these days” won’t see Afghanistan or Iraq like in 2003+. So they just go around with this power trip and ego and just make a fool of themselves. It’s fucked up that a kid had to die because of this disgrace and it kills me to see the kid’s picture before shipping to boot because you could tell he was excited to be a part of something special. Like I said, I’m so disappointed because despite some of the head types I met during my time, I am still proud of my service and what the Marine Corps is. But this is all anectodal so it’s nothing concrete.