In a Facebook message posted by Hegseth along with an excerpt from the video, he wrote that the way Chansley was treated by the justice system “is disgusting.”

“Trump, Chansley and many others… The Left wants us all locked up,” Hegseth wrote.

Hegseth served for nearly 20 years and deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. He has two bronze stars. Speaking about his service and advocating for other service members and veterans, he has taken steps to support convicted war criminals and recently said he told his platoon they could ignore directives limiting when they could fire.

In a podcast interview released earlier this month, Hegseth described receiving a briefing from a military lawyer in 2005 in Baghdad about the rules of engagement. Hegseth said the lawyer told them they couldn’t shoot someone carrying a rocket-propelled grenade unless it was pointed at them.

“I remember walking out of that briefing, getting my platoon together and saying, ‘Guys, we’re not doing this. You know, if you see an enemy and he, you know, engages before he can point the gun at you and fire, we’re going to have your back,’” Hegseth said.

“All they do is take an incident and shout ‘war criminal,'” he said, referring to The New York Times, the left and Democrats, adding: “Why wouldn’t we support these guys even if they weren’t perfect. ?”

He said he was proud of his role in securing pardons from Trump in 2019 for a former US Army commando to stand trial for the killing of an alleged Afghan bomb maker, as well as a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for he ordered his men. to shoot at three Afghans, killing two. At Hegseth’s urging, Trump also ordered a promotion for Eddie Gallaghera Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a dead Islamic State prisoner in Iraq.

Hegseth complained that he himself was labeled an extremist by the D.C. National Guard and said he was prevented from serving during Biden’s inauguration weeks after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol because of a cross tattoo on his chest. He said he decided to end his military service soon after in disgust.

But a fellow Guardsman who worked as a pre-inauguration security officer provided the AP with an email he sent that shows him expressing concern about another tattoo.

Retired Master Sgt. DeRicko Gaither, who was director of physical security for the D.C. Army National Guard and on its counterterrorism force protection team in January 2021, told the AP that he received an email from a former member of the D.C. Guard who it included a screenshot of a social network. post that included two photos showing some of Hegseth’s tattoos.

Gaither told the AP he researched the tattoos — including one of a Jerusalem Cross — and the context of the words “Deus Vult”, Latin for “God Wills”, on biceps — and determined they had enough connection to extremist groups to elevate the email to his commanding officers.

Several of Hegseth’s tattoos are associated with an expression of religious faith, according to Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, but have also been adopted by some far-right groups and violent extremists. Their meaning depends on the context, she said.

Some extremists invoke their association with the Christian Crusades to express anti-Muslim sentiment. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism notes that in 2023 the words were in the notebooks of Allen, Texas, shooter Mauricio Garcia. Anders Breivik, a right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in 2011, had similar signs in his manifesto.

In an email Gaither sent on Jan. 14, 2021, which the AP reported, he expressed concern about Hegseth, a major at the time, and only mentioned the “Deus Vult” tattoo. In the email addressed to then-Maj. General William Walker, who was commanding general of the DC National Guard, Gauther expressed concern that the phrase was associated with white supremacists invoking the idea of ​​a white Christian medieval past, as well as the Christian Crusades.

“MG Walker, sir, with the information provided, this falls into the realm of domestic threats, and that is what we as members of the US Army, District of Columbia National Guard, and the Counter Terrorism/Force Protection Team strive to prevent ”, Gaither. he wrote.

“I said, ‘You guys have to take a look at this,'” Gaither said in a phone interview with the AP on Thursday. “I got an email later telling him to stay away.”

Biden’s inauguration came just two weeks after the insurrection, and the Army wasn’t taking any chances. More than 25,000 Guardsmen were pouring into the city, and each was going through extra screening depending on how close they were to Biden.

A total of 12 National Guard members were told to stay home, former Pentagon press secretary Jonathan Hoffman told reporters in a briefing. the day before the inauguration. At least two have been flagged for potential extremism concerns; the rest were due to other background check issues that were identified as worrisome by either the Army, the FBI, or the Secret Service. It was unclear whether Hegseth was among the 12 Hoffmans referred to at the time.

Hegseth also speculated in podcast interviews that he was asked to step down because of his political views, his role as a journalist covering January 6, or because he works for Fox News.

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Smith reported from Providence, RI, and Dearen reported from Los Angeles.

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Contact AP’s global investigative team at [email protected]