https://archive.ph/TBn0n https:// www. nbcnews. com/news/military/secret-facebook-groups-america-s-best-warriors-share-racist-jabs-n1263985

In secret Facebook groups, America's best warriors share racist jabs, lies about 2020, even QAnon theories

NBC News reviewed posts from four private, secret Facebook groups that describe themselves as solely for current and former special operations forces.

April 16, 2021, 8:30 AM UTC By Carol E. Lee

Collectively, the two groups have more than 5,000 members, with some belonging to both. U.S. Special Operations Command has about 70,000 personnel, and there are tens of thousands more retired members of special operations forces.

Facebook has flagged a few of the posts in the groups as including false information, or they have received pushback from fellow members.

An announcement in the Facebook group US Special Forces Team Room last year tells members to be careful of what they post because "someone is always watching and collecting."obtained by NBC News

The politically charged ones often ridicule President Joe Biden — describing him as "senile" and weak compared to leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin — and refer to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with derogatory terms like "bubba."

Many of the posts express support for Trump, including his false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. One member of a group, for instance, commented on an image of law enforcement officers with their guns drawn while barricaded inside the House chamber during the Jan. 6 riot, writing, "too bad they didn't bother to defend the Constitution."

Other posts promote conspiracy theories that those involved in the Jan. 6 riot were members of antifa and Black Lives Matter, not Trump supporters.

Garry Reid, director for defense intelligence at the Defense Department, said the Pentagon is trying to better "identify, detect, categorize and take action against any such behaviors in this department."

"This is very disturbing material for me and very disturbing content that in no way would mirror the behavior expected of persons employed by the Department of Defense, and certainly not serving in the U.S. military," Reid said.

When it comes to special operations forces, he said, "because of the sensitivity of the missions and the criticality to security that some of these operations have, people would be even more concerned and upset to know that that exists in that community."

When it comes to special operations forces, he said, "because of the sensitivity of the missions and the criticality to security that some of these operations have, people would be even more concerned and upset to know that that exists in that community."

Such behavior isn't acceptable in the military, but it can be difficult to detect and root out, he said.

"Humans have thoughts, and we don't like all the thoughts that people have. But what's not tolerated is putting thoughts into action," Reid said. "And taking action in this case, [meaning] posting something to a site on the internet, is contrary to policy, because it is espousing the views that bring forward aspects of hate and violence and unlawful discrimination. That is just flatly unacceptable."

The posts viewed by NBC News "would be a reason for further investigation," he said.

A spokesperson for Facebook said that while its private groups have the option to be visible or hidden, the company's standards apply to both, and that they are enforced by a combination of technology and employees who review content.

The FBI is investigating active-duty troops and reservists as part of its investigation into the riot. There is growing concern that the problem is more pervasive than it appears among those currently serving.