Family disputes report Marine recruit killed himself

A Muslim Marine says a drunk drill instructor ordered him to get inside a clothes dryer at the SC boot camp and repeatedly asked him if he was a “terrorist” and ‘part of 9/11’.

Gen. Austin Renforth, about the findings of three command investigations into the death of 20-year-old Muslim recruit Raheel Siddiqui and other allegations of hazing.

He said he was woken up by drill instructors whose breath smelled of alcohol and forced to march into the shower area. The drill instructors also sometimes were drunk on the job, bringing Fireball whiskey into work on at least one occasion, recruits told investigators. He was ordered to the shower and told to march in place, do push-ups and crunches while under the water.

Officials alleged recurrent physical and verbal abuse of recruits by drill instructors, with a noted insufficiency of oversight and supervision at various command levels, and maltreatment of new drill instructors by veteran instructors.

The Siddiqui family was informed of the preliminary findings last week, their lawyers said in a statement, which added they were “reviewing the findings and will determine their next course of action”.

Siddiqui’s loved ones from suburban Detroit think there is “a lack of material evidence” that the Pakistani-American purposely jumped to his death at the legendary Parris Island Recruit Depot in SC, their attorney said in a statement Tuesday.

The results of the three command investigations, reviewed by Military.com on September 8, revealed that the drill instructor whose abuse and harassment of Siddiqui provided “impetus” for the recruit’s death had been previously investigated for hazing another Muslim recruit by throwing him in a clothes dryer and calling him a “terrorist”. When asked about the religion he practices (he said “Islam”), the dryer was turned on for “the longest duration”.

According to the report, published on Tuesday, the drill sergeant repeatedly tormented the recruit by calling him a “terrorist” and saying that he would “kill us all the first chance” he got. Are you a terrorist?’ When she did, the drill instructor took the phone away from the recruit, introduced himself and said that he had heard she was single and wanted to know whether they could get to know each other.

The time in the dryer caused burns on his neck and shoulders, according to the marine, and he began to cry.

He was asked again if he was Muslim, he said “yes” and the dryer was on again for another 15 seconds. Nicholas Deabreu, were removed from their positions leading the Recruit Training Regiment at Parris Island in June after an investigation found that they had not done enough to stop the mistreatment of recruits.

“Given those facts alone, it’s impossible for his family and friends to accept that he took his own life”, Khan said.

In a statement Thursday, the Marine Corps said it has ordered several commanders and enlisted leaders relieved and suspended a number of drill instructors. However, there are too many questions that remain unanswered. “There was clearly a breakdown in leadership at Parris Island”.

He was “targeted and intentionally abused” before his March 18 death, Khan said.

The Marine official with knowledge of the investigations said it is likely that the service will move forward with criminal proceedings against some Marines involved, beginning this fall.

In one case, a senior drill instructor who had seen a photograph of a recruit’s sister made him log into his Facebook account so he could request that she call Parris Island on the telephone.