WASHINGTON — He stood ready to defend the country, but instead, reportedly chose to fight on the front lines of resurging racism.
A team of investigative journalists from the non-profit newsroom ProPublica and PBS Frontline identified a Charlottesville white nationalist Thursday, reporting that he kept a national security clearance nearly a year after the violence.
According to the report, Michael Miselis, 29, works for Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman. The UCLA grad student holds a U.S. government security clearance, working in a computer modeling and simulation group within Northrop’s aerospace division.
Ten hours after the story broke, the defense corporation released a statement on Twitter saying, “we do not tolerate hatred or illegal conduct and we condemn racist activities in any shape or form. We are taking immediate action to look into the very serious issues raised by these reports.”
Video and social media posts reviewed by the investigative reporters suggests Miselis was part of the violent Aug. 12, 2017 protests. Photographs appear to show him shoving and preparing to punch an African-American protester.
Miselis lives outside of Los Angeles, and denied all of the allegations when reporters requested comment outside his home.
