Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix made the lives of all his recruits hell \u2014 for example, when one recruit puked in his chocolate milk, Felix made the squad leader drink it \u2014 but the drill instructor seemed to especially dislike Muslims, a former Marine testified Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Marine Rekan Hawez, who was born in Iraqi Kurdistan, is one of three Muslim recruits whom Felix is accused of abusing at Recruit Depot Parris Island. One of those recruits, Raheel Siddiqui, jumped down a stairwell to his death after Felix allegedly slapped him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Testifying at Felix\u2019s court martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Hawez said that Felix\u2019s wrath was not limited to Muslims. In separate incidents, Hawez said, Felix allegedly punched a recruit in the jaw and allegedly slapped a rifle against another recruit\u2019s ear so hard that his ear bled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Hawez, who attended boot camp between April and July 2015, said Felix treated him differently after discovering that Hawez was Kurdish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom that point on, he knew I was Middle Eastern,\u201d Hawez told jurors. \u201cI felt I was getting singled out much more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawez said Felix started calling him \u201cISIS,\u201d \u201cterrorist\u201d and \u201cKurdish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Felix often punished Hawez by making him do extra burpees, push-ups and other forms of \u201cincentive training,\u201d Hawez said. According to Parris Island rules, such training is supposed to last no more than 15 minutes, but Hawez said Felix once made him do exercises for 90 minutes as punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Felix is accused of choking, hitting and stomping on recruits and, if convicted could face years in the brig. His charge sheet is six pages long and lists numerous allegations of abuse against recruits in three platoons. He is charged with violation of a general order, maltreatment, dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, being drunk and disorderly and obstruction of justice \u2013 the later charge is for allegedly telling recruits not to discuss Siddiqui\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drill instructor is the most high-profile Marine yet to face a court martial for the alleged hazing at Parris Island that has roiled the Marine Corps since Siddiqui\u2019s death in March 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Siddiqui\u2019s family has sued the Marine Corps for $100 million, claiming the 20-year-old Muslim recruit\u2019s death was caused by hazing and \u201cnegligence on multiple levels of command.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawez testimony on Wednesday reinforced claims that Felix singled out Muslims for abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One night, Hawez said Felix woke up recruits and ordered them to squeeze their way into a room with a large commercial clothing dryer. Hawez testified that he could smell alcohol on Felix\u2019s breath at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recruits were laying so close together on the floor that Felix and two other drill instructors were \u201cphysically walking\u201d on them, Hawez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While in the room, Felix pointed to a dryer and told Hawez, \u201cHey ISIS, get in,\u201d Hawez said. Hawez climbed inside and closed the door. After about 15 seconds, Felix ordered him to get out without turning the dryer on, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawez is the second Marine to accuse Felix of forcing him into a dryer. The other recruit, Lance Cpl. Ameer Bourmeche, testified on Tuesday that Felix and fellow drill instructor Sgt. Michael Eldridge only let him out of the dryer after he told them he was no longer a Muslim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawez said he was separated from the Marine Corps in June under other-than-honorable conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Felix\u2019s defense attorney claimed that Hawez\u2019s testimony is an effort to retaliate against the Marine Corps and questioned the Kurdish recruit\u2019s credibility by saying he only told investigators that he had been ordered into a dryer after reading about another incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Hawez countered that he did not report being put in the dryer because it did not feel it was a serious issue at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another former drill instructor, former Staff Sgt. Aaron Galipeau, told jurors on Wednesday that he was there when Felix and Eldridge ordered recruits to get into the dryer room, but Galipeau did not see any recruits get inside a dryer while he was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Galipeau was also accused of abusing recruits but he reached a pretrial agreement with prosecutors and was not charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Galipeau testified that on the night of the dryer room incident, he, Felix and Eldridge spent about two hours drinking Fireball Cinnamon Whisky that Felix had brought from his locker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When they returned to the barracks, Felix and Eldridge ordered all of the recruits to run into the dryer room and do pushups and squats, said Galipeau, who called the episode \u201cchaotic\u201d and \u201cunwarranted.\u201d He also confirmed that Galipeau and the other drill instructors walked on top of the recruits because they were squeezed into such a small space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he did not report what had happened because he did not want to get punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew I\u2019d be sitting in this chair if I did report it,\u201d Galipeau said. \u201cNo matter how you look at it, someone would have to pay for what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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