A former soldier assigned to Fort Bragg who was discharged from the US Army two weeks ago and is facing charges for lying on his security clearance application told investigators that he enlisted in the military to become “more proficient in killing” Black people, NBC News reports.

Entering active duty in May 2020, Killian M. Ryan stated on a clearance application that he had had no contact with his father, a convicted felon with a lengthy history of drug dealing and theft, in more than a decade.  Investigators conducting the security check, however, found that Ryan had posted photos on social media of him and his father together as lately as 2019, when Ryan graduated from high school.

The background check also found Ryan had at least five separate Instagram accounts through which he would communicate with his father.  He used these accounts and other to communicate with and follow white nationalist and white power organizations.  One of the Instagram accounts Ryan set up used Naziace1488@gmail.com as the contact email.  It was on one of these Instagram accounts that he commented, “I serve for combat experience so I’m more proficient in killing n——.”

Ryan was involuntarily separated from the Army on August 26th.  “The U.S. Army does not tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. The Army prohibits military personnel from participating in extremist organizations and activities. There is no place for extremism in the Army,” a spokesman for the XVIII Airborne Corps, Ryan’s old unit at Fort Bragg, stated.