Over a dozen Navy SEALs disciplined for racist memes earlier this year

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Washington — The Navy softly disciplined 18 Navy SEALs earlier this twelvemonth aft subject investigators recovered a backstage radical chat that contained racist memes targeting a Black SEAL who was besides successful the chat, according to documents and a Naval Special Warfare spokesperson.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, CBS News obtained the Navy's probe into members of SEAL Team Four, on with years of the unit's interior surveys, which springiness naval officers penetration into the culture, morale and effectiveness. The probe and different records amusement radical harassment towards 1 of the team's ain members wrong a unit that prides itself connected portion cohesion and honor—prompting enactment from the apical commander.

One racist meme sent to the SEAL successful 2022 was described successful the probe arsenic "Slave successful Chains." Another meme sent successful 2022 was titled "Monkey Face" and depicted the SEAL successful azygous with his look distorted to look similar a monkey. A meme sent successful 2023 compared him to the movie quality Radio, a mentally disabled antheral played by Cuba Gooding Jr.

The afloat results of the Navy's probe and the interior surveys person not been reported connected until now. The After-Action Report, a nationalist information blog connected Substack, first reported connected the memes, earlier this year.

The punishments ranged from simplification successful fertile and forfeiture of wage to administrative measures, similar ceremonial letters of acquisition and counseling, according to the Navy spokesperson.

CBS News has learned that Rear Adm. Milton Sands, past the caput of Naval Special Warfare Command, acted swiftly erstwhile the allegations surfaced successful March. Sands has since been removed from his presumption by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The crushed for his removal is unknown.

Attorney William Brown of the Parlatore Law Group and a erstwhile Navy SEAL himself told CBS News successful a telephone interrogation that what happened astatine SEAL Team Four violates "everything the Teams basal for," and helium praised Rear Adm. Sands and different naval peculiar warfare leaders for taking "unprecedented action" successful this case.

"This was not a SEAL Team Four issue; it was a platoon-level enactment failure, but Sands took enactment and the strategy worked," said Brown, who represented the SEAL pro bono.

Brown said Sands and different elder leaders wrong the bid moved to enactment the Black SEAL and to nonstop a connection to the wider naval peculiar operations assemblage that racist behaviour would transportation terrible consequences. Brown lauded Sands for his enactment successful the case, contempt the information that helium has had public disagreements with the two-star admiral connected different issues.

Sands has not responded to a petition for comment.

The Navy launched an probe into the memes and messages, primitively shared successful a backstage Signal radical chat betwixt 2021 and 2024, erstwhile they were raised successful complaints filed by the Black SEAL successful March.

The SEAL wrote successful the harassment ailment that earlier joining his platoon, helium had not experienced immoderate radical favoritism and had "great mentors" portion undergoing the notoriously grueling grooming to go a qualified SEAL, which takes Naval candidates astir 2 years to complete.

But aft helium joined, "the racism I experienced…was persistent, targeted and profoundly dehumanizing," wrote the SEAL. "It wasn't conscionable an onslaught connected maine personally — it reflected a breakdown successful the precise subject and integrity the Teams are expected to uphold."

In the complaint, the Black Navy SEAL said his sanction was scratched disconnected 2 plaques wherever it erstwhile appeared alongside others serving connected SEAL Team Four. On 1 of the plaques, the names are etched into a portion of wood nether a hatchet adorned with Navy SEAL Tridents, the carnal pin that signifies a SEAL.

The SEAL described the removal of his sanction arsenic "A final, disgraceful enactment to marque it wide that I was not welcome," and that it was "a nonstop and unmistakable enactment of hatred."

Overall, the SEAL wrote of others' behavior, "these were men who were expected to beryllium my brothers, but instead, they either participated successful oregon enabled a civilization of bigotry and silence."

SEAL Team Four is based retired of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek successful Virginia and falls nether Naval Special Warfare Group Two, which oversees Team Four and 3 different SEAL Teams.

Each SEAL Team tin person astir 250 work members, including Navy SEALs and combat enactment personnel, according to the bid clime surveys obtained by CBS News and erstwhile Navy SEALs.

The Black Navy SEAL, who declined to beryllium interviewed, was successful Delta platoon, a portion of astir 16 to 20 SEALs. Prior to becoming a SEAL, helium had earned a grade successful planetary studies and was a trained pilot, according to the documents.

He filed the harassment complaints aft his Trident, the carnal pin that signifies a SEAL, was revoked aft reappraisal boards recovered his show was lacking. But records obtained by CBS News amusement helium was a qualified sniper and a certified associated terminal onslaught controller oregon JTAC for short. JTACs capable a high-stress relation – it requires utmost precision, since the controllers coordinate craft delivering bombs and missiles, sometimes adjacent their presumption connected the ground. A mistake tin beryllium deadly.

Brown, successful refuting the SEAL's substandard show review, pointed retired that SEAL leaders typically nonstop their smartest work members to sniper and JTAC school.

After an investigation, the SEAL's Trident was restored. Brown believes he's the archetypal Navy SEAL successful past whose Trident was restored aft it was revoked. The committee that carried retired the SEAL's reappraisal volition acquisition reforms, Brown told CBS News.

Moreover, Brown said Rear Adm. Sands besides called the SEAL to convey him for his work and extended his Navy tenure to alteration him to get subject aesculapian attraction and moved him to a bid that is person to his family. The SEAL has since near the Navy.

A Naval Special Warfare spokesperson said the Navy had "completed accountability" regarding the SEAL's case.

"Individuals accepted work for their actions, reinforcing NSW's committedness to accountability, transparency, and upholding the modular of the quiescent professional," the spokesperson said.

The SEAL's superiors did not alteration the chat content, according to the spokesperson, but they were counseled successful beforehand of their peers due to the fact that the incidental had occurred nether their command. Brown, the SEAL's attorney, said those counseled included the commanding officer, enforcement serviceman and bid maestro main of SEAL Team Four.

Brown told CBS News that helium had antecedently served with the commanding serviceman of SEAL Team Four.

"He is not a racist antheral but helium made a misjudgment successful this case," Brown told CBS News. "They volition ne'er bid forces successful NSW again."

The enactment besides held all-hands calls astatine assorted levels to code the misconduct wrong the radical chat straight with the force, according to the spokesperson.

Some of the misconduct successful the chat stemmed from "meme drop(s)" the members had periodically connected Fridays "to marque amusive of things that happened each week," according to 1 idiosyncratic whom investigators recovered had contributed to a hostile situation due to the fact that helium did not halt the messages. Four of the six memes investigated were sent connected a Friday, according to the investigation.

The investigated messages included 1 that read, "I dropped a hard R successful beforehand of a achromatic pupil 3 weeks ago." The writer had a "pattern of behavior" utilizing the connection "n*****," investigators found.

In the people of their review, subject investigators besides discovered immoderate squad members had referred to a chap work subordinate arsenic "dragon lady" and mocked her Asian accent.

When asked by CBS News if determination is immoderate mandated radical sensitivity training, the spokesperson said determination was not, adding that the bid is committed to accountability. The investigations helped "identify shortcomings and instrumentality corrective measures."

CBS News obtained Defense Organizational Climate Surveys for SEAL Team Four done the Freedom of Information Act for the years 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2024. These surveys supply commanders with some statistical details and comments from their work members connected a wide array of issues wrong their units.

Troops are not required to capable them out, and the responses are anonymous. But each Defense Department units are required to instrumentality them annually oregon whenever a caller serviceman takes implicit a bid of much than 50 people.

SEAL teams mostly person constricted numbers of troops representing radical and taste minorities. Nonetheless, the records obtained by CBS News amusement that work members person persistently reported racially harassing behavior. In 2024 for instance, 5 retired of the 105 members of SEAL Team Four who took the survey reported it.

The figures were higher successful 2022 erstwhile 18 retired of the 105 members of SEAL Team Four reported experiencing racially harassing behaviors. The Team took 2 surveys successful 2023 showing fluctuating but akin results.

Between 2022 and 2024, SEAL Team Four commanders penning to their nonstop superior underscored that they judge "diversity is cardinal to organizational growth," and that they "highly promote inclusion of each personnel, careless of ethnicity, background, rate, oregon otherwise."

In a Nov. 2023 letter, Cmdr. Bryan Jennings, the commandant of Navy SEAL TEAM Four astatine the time, wrote: "Racial and intersexual harassing behaviors were 6%-7% negative, which is an wide debased number, but immoderate percent successful these categories is simply a weakness that should beryllium addressed."

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