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A self-avowed "Nazi" who claimed to have joined the military to practice killing Black people has been discharged and is now facing federal charges, RollingStone reports.
21-year-old former soldier Killian Mackeith Ryan is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice for lying on an official form, but during their investigation, the DOJ found the extremist also engaged in violent and racist online communications.
Though Ryan's criminal charges are unrelated to his racist online activity, federal prosecutors detailed the findings in their complaint.
During their probe, the DOJ said they found Instagram messages that showed the discharged soldier's intent to use combat training to kill Black people.
“I serve for combat experience so I’m more proficient in killing n*****s,” Ryan said in one of the messages discovered during the investigation.
Ryan's criminal charges stem from false claims he allegedly included on his application for security clearance.
On an official form, the 21-year-old said he had not seen his biological father in a decade, but it was later uncovered that the father and son were in contact via Instagram, where they both engaged with accounts “associated with racially motivated extremism,” according to court documents.
Ryan’s father was also allegedly present at his high school graduation.
According to Mark Zaid, a lawyer and expert on similar cases, lying on official documents typically leads to loss of clearances or termination, but rarely to prosecution.
“One of two things happened: either the government is taking a much stronger position on racist white nationalist extremists if they find them within the U.S. government, or something else happened where this individual really aggravated somebody personally,” Zaid told RollingStone.
Ryan is also being accused of using the email address "naziace1488" under an Instagram account that served as a platform to keep “in contact with numerous accounts associated with racially motivated extremism,” according to an affidavit filed by a Fayetteville police officer assigned to the FBI’s local Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Per reports, Ryan was discharged from the Army’s 82nd Airborne for misconduct and arrested on federal charges on August 26.
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