Killian M. Ryan was expelled from the American Army and detained as a result of an FBI investigation that connected him to white nationalists and Nazi ideology. Federal officials looked through his email and social media accounts and discovered the following:
Ryan allegedly posted: “I serve for combat experience so I’m more proficient in killing n*****s.”
Investigators found that Ryan registered some of these social media accounts with an email that included “naziace1488.”
Killian M. Ryan, who was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, held the rank of specialist and served in the Army until Aug. 26, a spokesperson with the XVIII Airborne Corps said in a statement Thursday.
Ryan was ultimately charged with one count of knowingly making a false statement on his application for a secret security clearance. He was also discharged for “serious misconduct.”
According to Nbcnews, An affidavit filed Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court for Eastern North Carolina alleges that Ryan had online ties to people whose social media accounts were “associated with racially motivated extremism.”
The affidavit, written by a Fayetteville police officer on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, also alleges that Ryan posted his motivation for joining the Army on an Instagram account. “I serve for combat experience so I’m more proficient in killing n——,” he is alleged to have said. Ryan also had five Instagram accounts in which he communicated with extremists who were motivated by racial animus, the affidavit said.
According to the Airborne Corps, Killian M. Ryan served as a fire support specialist in the 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery, and the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. Apparently, Ryan was never deployed.
The affidavit states that Killian M. Ryan started his active duty assignment on May 27, 2020, or nearly two weeks after he turned in his application for a security clearance. According to the affidavit, Ryan stated on the clearance form that he hadn’t spoken to his father, Richard Matthew Dillard, in more than ten years. According to the affidavit, Dillard has a criminal history involving drugs and auto thefts and was a convicted felon.