The Army is investigating a National Guard social media account posting that contained an image of a soldier wearing a patch appearing to depict Nazi symbolism.
On Sunday, the 20th Special Forces Group, headquartered in Alabama, posted a photo on Instagram with the caption, “That weekend feeling. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Don’t stop training. Don’t get complacent.”
The photo had three soldiers, one of whom was wearing a patch that seemed to depict the Nazi SS Totenkopfverbände — a distinct skull and crossbones, or “death’s head”. The imagery is common for white supremacist groups, particularly in Europe, and was first noted on social media by U.S. Army W.T.F! Moments.
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The Army made conflicting statements about the patch Tuesday. The patch was on the soldier’s helmet, and the photo, like most imagery involving special operations that public affairs officials post on social media, was edited to blur out faces. That means the photo went through some kind of vetting process before publication. It’s unclear how the Nazi imagery went unnoticed. The post has since been deleted.
“The use of symbols and patches depicting historic images of hate are not tolerated and a clear violation of our values,” Jacqueline Hill, a spokesperson for Army Special Operations Command, told Military.com in a statement. “We are…
