Racist memes shared by Navy SEALs prompt investigation, disciplinary actions
Two members of Navy SEAL Team 4 are facing disciplinary action for racist conduct, and several of their platoon and team leaders are being disciplined for leadership failures, according to a defense official.
The two enlisted team members are being punished for developing racist memes targeting a Black sailor in their platoon and circulating them in a group chat with other team members, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing investigation. The memes depicted the sailor as a slave, according to visuals viewed by The Associated Press.
According to the official, the sailor who was targeted reported the incidents this year, but they took place beginning in 2022 and the memes circulated for years. The sailor had been in one of the SEAL Team 4 platoons but had his qualifications and SEAL trident revoked last year. He alleged that his failure to remain a SEAL was due to the racist treatment.
Two officials said that as a result of the investigation, which was conducted by Naval Special Warfare Group 2, the sailor's SEAL qualifications are being reinstated. The group oversees SEAL Team 4 and the platoons that make up the team.
The probe by the East Coast-based group found that the platoon and SEAL Team 4 leaders did not adequately address the sailor's concerns about racist behavior and that the decision to revoke his qualifications was flawed.
'This was a very shocking case of explicit and repeated racist memes directed at our client in a platoon-wide text thread," said Timothy Parlatore, the sailor's lawyer. 'They modified his face in photos to look like a monkey and portrayed him as a chained slave on a slave ship, among others.'
The two enlisted sailors responsible for the memes face non-judicial punishment and punitive letters in their files. Both actions can be career ending, or can result in demotions or loss of pay. Other actions are still pending.
The platoon and team leaders are also facing administrative actions, including disciplinary letters in their files, that could determine if they continue as SEALs.
In a statement, Naval Special Warfare Command acknowledged the investigation into 'serious allegations of unprofessional conduct within one of our commands" and said "accountability actions are ongoing.'
It added that 'we are dedicated to fostering a climate of dignity and respect, and after conducting a thorough and fair investigation, we will hold anyone found responsible of misconduct accountable.'
Parlatore praised Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, head of NSW, and his staff for taking swift action to 'investigate, reverse the negative repercussions that our client received, and move to hold people accountable.'
This is just the latest significant investigation into behavior issues and command failures at Naval Special Warfare Command. And it underscores racial concerns that are not new to the special warfare leaders.
Commando forces across the services — particularly the officers — tend to be far less diverse than the military as a whole. And leaders in recent years have tried to reach out to a wider array of recruits in order to develop a more diverse force.
Those efforts, however, could be threatened now, as the Trump administration and Defense Department leaders have made it a priority to end diversity and inclusion programs across the military and the government as a whole. That could exacerbate racist problems in the smaller, largely-white teams.
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Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
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But as his dinner was plated up and presented to him on a table, Brewer refused to eat a single bite. His refusal to eat the multi-course meal angered Texas senator John Whitmire, prompting him to put an end to the tradition, saying 'it's long overdue.' 'Enough is enough', the senator declared, stating that the last meal request is an 'extremely inappropriate' privilege, 'one which the perpetrators did not provide to their victim.' 'Mr Byrd didn't get to choose his last meal. The whole deal is so illogical', he added. Executive director of the Texas criminal justice department, Brad Livingston, agreed with Sen. Whitmire. He said: 'I believe Senator Whitmire's concerns regarding the practice of allowing death row offenders to choose their last meal are valid. 'Effective immediately, no such accommodations will be made. They will receive the same meal served to other offenders on the unit.' Brewer had been on death row for 12 years before his 2011 execution. Speaking to local media before receiving his lethal injection, he said death would be a 'good out' and that he was 'glad it's about to come to an end.' Asked if he had any last words, he replied: 'No. I have no final statement', as a single tear rolled down his cheek. Brewer was executed for his part in the 1998 killing of Byrd in Jasper, East Texas, after Brewer and two friends offered him a lift along a remote country road. Byrd, aged 49 at the time, was beaten unconscious and urinated upon before being bound to the vehicle by his ankles with a heavy logging chain and driven for three miles. Forensic evidence showed that he was alive for much of the ordeal but was killed when the vehicle hit a concrete drainage channel causing his head and arm to be ripped from his body. John William King, 36, was also convicted of capital murder and sent to death row. The third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life prison term. 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While not a mandatory requirement for prisoners on death row in countries where the death penalty still exists, the request is often granted in the US, with the final meals written into public records of executions. Despite Texas' decision to no longer allow prisoners to choose their last meals, other states continue to give inmates the option to. Some states, however, have a final meal price limit, while others require the meal to be served within a specific time. It is not uncommon for prisoners to order nostalgic meals that offer them a last flavour of happiness before they face the most extreme punishment possible for their heinous crimes. While extensive, Brewer's request was far from the largest or most bizarre death row meal orders. Back in 2011, prisoner Cleve Foster's requested two fried chickens, French fries and a 19-litre bucket of peaches. In 2000, Odell Barnes Jr. from Texas, who was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of Helen Bass, requested 'justice, equality and world peace.' In 2002, Robert Anthony Buell, from Ohio, was executed by lethal injection for the 1982 murder of 11-year-old Krista Lea Harrison. For his final meal, he requested a single, black, un-pitted olive.
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an hour ago
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Their father was himself a feared kingpin who had been killed in Amsterdam's Red Light District in deal also involved Vijaygiri "Vicky" Goswami, an Indian national who managed the Akashas' October 2014, with the Akashas, Goswami and Hafeez still unaware of who the buyers really were, 99kg of heroin and 2kg of crystal meth were delivered to the fake Colombian traffickers. The Akashas promised to provide hundreds of kilograms more of each drug.A month later, the Akasha brothers and Goswami were arrested in Mombasa. They were released on bail shortly afterwards, and spent over two years fighting extradition to the the background, American law enforcers were working with counterparts in the UK to piece together their case against Hafeez, partly using evidence gathered from devices they had seized when they arrested Goswami and the Akasha brothers. 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He was detained at high security Belmarsh Prison in south-east London, and it was from there that he spent six years fighting extradition to the US.A big development happened in 2019 in the US. Goswami pleaded guilty, and told a New York court he had agreed to co-operate with prosecutors. The Akasha brothers also pleaded Akasha was sentenced to 25 years in prison. His brother Ibrahim was sentenced to 23 who is yet to be sentenced, would have testified against Hafeez in the US had the case gone to Belmarsh, Hafeez was running out of tried to stop extradition to the US - but failed to convince magistrates, the High Court in London and the ECHR that he had, in fact, been an informant to the authorities who was "at risk of ill-treatment from his fellow prisoners" as a result. He also claimed the conditions in a US prison would be "inhuman and degrading" for him because of his health conditions, including type 2 diabetes and lost all of these arguments at every stage and was extradited in May case did not go to trial. In November last year, Hafeez pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to manufacture and distribute heroin, methamphetamine and hashish and to import them into the US. Pre-sentencing, prosecutors described the "extremely fortunate circumstances" of Hafeez's life, which "throw into harsh relief his decision to scheme... and to profit from the distribution of dangerous substances that destroy lives and whole communities"."Unlike many traffickers whose drug activities are borne, at least in part, from desperation, poverty, and a lack of educational opportunities," they said, "the defendant has lived a life replete with privilege and choice."
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Daughter of Benidorm attack victim in plea for answers
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