Marine Corps launches investigation into Marine who threatened to shoot 'ch**ks' and said 'China will pay for what they have done to this country'
The Marine Corps has launched an investigation into a Marine who shared a video online in which he threatened to shoot Chinese people while deployed with the fleet.
According to Stars and Stripes, Marine Corps spokesman, Capt Joseph Butterfield, identified the Marine as Pfc Jarrett Morford.
In the video, Morford is heard saying: 'As the honorable Trump said today on Twitter, it was China's fault. China is going to pay for what they have done to this country and the world.'
The Marine Corps has launched an investigation into Pfc Jarrett Morford (left and right) who shared a video online in which he threatened to shoot Chinese people while deployed with the fleet
Morford was referring to the spread of the coronavirus in the US, which has reported more than 7.5 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 211,000 deaths since the pandemic broke out earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has continued to place blame on China for the virus spreading to the US. He has also called coronavirus, the 'China virus' on several occasions.
But it's unclear which tweet from the president Morford was referring too.
Morford continued saying in the clip: 'I don't give a f**k! A ch**k-headed motherf**ker comes up to me when I'm in the fleet, say 5-5-6 b**ch. That's all I gotta say.'
It's believed Morford's mention of 5-5-6 is referring to the military's usage of the 5.56mm ammunition and weapons that use it like the M16 and M4, which are the standard rifles issued to Marines.
Butterfield said the Marine Corps has launched an investigation int Morford.
'There is no place for racism in the Marine Corps. Those who can't value the contributions of others, regardless of background, are destructive to our culture and do not represent our core values,' Butterfield told Stars and Stripes.
It's unclear when the video was recorded, but it went viral on social media on Thursday.
The video made headlines just a day after Trump shared a video of himself outside the White House as he addressed the pandemic.
Trump, who tested positive for the virus last week, said: 'It wasn't your fault this happened,' Trump said, referring to the pandemic. 'It was China's fault.'
The president himself said that China was going to pay.
'China's going to pay a big price for what they've done to this country,' Trump added.