Navy Kills Sailor in Deliberate Dunking Death

For shame.  The killer(s) should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  Because Life Matters.

James Derek Lovelace, 21, was struggling during an exercise in which trainees tread water in the pool wearing combat fatigues and boots, according to the medical examiner's report. Multiple witnesses told investigators that prior to the instructor laying his hands on Lovelace, the sailor's "face was purple and his lips were blue."

During the exercise, "instructors are reportedly advised to not dunk or pull students underwater," the report says.

But in a video of the incident, the report says, "an instructor in the water approaches the decedent and apparently dunks the decedent underwater. Over the course of the next approximately five minutes, the instructor follows the decedent around the pool, continually splashing him with water. The decedent is also splashed by other instructors in the water. Throughout the time period, the decedent is observed to go under the water multiple times."

At one point, the report says, another student approached Lovelace and tried to help him keep his head above the surface. One individual considered calling a "time-out" to stop the exercise, the report says, but failed to do so.

"The instructor appears to again dunk the decedent and continues to follow him around the water," the report says. "The instructor also appears to pull the decedent partially up and out of the water and then push him back. Eventually, the decedent is assisted to the side of the pool where he is pulled from the water."

...
The instructor involved, a petty officer first class who joined the Navy in 2008, had continued in his job immediately following the incident. He was removed from duty only after a story by NBC News and The Pilot challenged the narrative initially released by the Navy.

Good on the journalists who reported the story.
Because Truth still matters too... Don't let them tell you otherwise.

The instructor remains on administrative duty, Navy officials said, and no charges have been filed.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service Ed Buice said his agency's investigation into the death is ongoing, and no "conclusions have been reached regarding criminal culpability."

"It is important to understand that 'homicide' refers to 'death at the hands of another' and a homicide is not inherently a crime," Buice wrote in a statement.

Stupidity Kills. Never forget...