After local writers and activists, as well as major media outlets, revealed he attended numerous protests and events throughout Southern California, a Marine-turned-Navy SEAL controller is under investigation for having relationships with extremist groups like the Proud Boys.
According to Navy official Cmdr., Chief Special Warfare Operator Bryce Henson is being looked into after being accused of “possibly participating with, or supporting, fundamentalist factors.” Ben Tisdale provided Defense .com with confirmation.
Henson gained notoriety over the past month while participating in protests, school board meetings, and city council meetings where he frequently pushed anti-LGBT+ language while using a false name.
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Cooperation with love or extremist organizations of any kind is contrary to the core principles of the Navy and is not tolerated by [Navy Special Warfare], according to Tisdale, “while sailors are usually allowed to exercise their rights to freedom of speech and council if they follow the law and policy limitation.”
The Pentagon added more information and quality to what constitutes radical action as well as “active contribution” in a statement that was published in December 2021, creating new guidelines for activities that are prohibited for all support members.
The new regulations added that “advocating common immoral discrimination” based on sexual orientation or gender identity was considered extremist activity.
Henson’s pursuits, which were primarily carried out under the name” Ben Richards,” were covered by The Los Angeles Times in an October statement. But since the spring, his real name had been known to neighborhood activists and writers. The PBS internet station in San Diego, KPBS, even covered Henson last week.
Online,” SoCal Parent Advocates” is credited with founding Ben Richards, but the organization’s social media presence primarily features a person who has been identified as Henson in reports. The L.A. was informed. He used to use the false name to protect himself, but presently he uses it to make fun of trans individuals.
If transgender people want him to “respect their crazy identity,” Henson advised the L. A. that they should n’t question his decision to go by “identify” as” Ben Richards.” days.
Military .com attempted to contact the bill via email and social media to request a statement on the research and Henson’s alleged use of two identities, but it was unsuccessful.
While still using the surname, the bill did issue a statement on Friday describing Richards as” a parents, Marine and Navy SEAL” who “is already involved in an ongoing analysis.”
” He is convinced that the inspection will clear him of any crime, proving that he has only been a hero for knowingly taking the risk to defend families from harm,” it said.
Henson served in the Marines for more than four years before joining the Navy, according to Military .com, a Marine Corps official.
A demonstration outside a YMCA in January was one of the first times Henson was photographed by reporters. A 17-year-old child complained to the city officials about a transgender woman being allowed to use the children’s locker room, which sparked protests at the gym in Santee, California.
Kelly Stuart, a journalist who has been attending Southern California protests and rallies since the pandemic’s beginning stages and the death of George Floyd, was there and saw the man she would later come to know as Henson on January 18 and 21.
On both days, Henson was surrounded by people dressed in the distinctive yellow and black attire of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group whose members were found guilty of various offenses after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Enrique Tarrio, the organization’s former president, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy in May, among other claims.
One of the Proud Boys in attendance on the night of January 18 was sporting a hooded hoodie with the phrase” walk up and remain by” written on it. President Donald Trump came up with this phrase during his first debate with Joe Biden because he refrained from denouncing far-right organizations and specifically brought up the pro-boyhood movement. Some wore bandannas, jerseys, or hats bearing the name or logo of the group.
Another person, who was also manifest on both times, had a symbol and several other noticeable Nazi tattoos. On both times, Henson was seen standing only feet away from him.
Henson “was sort of crazed” on January 18th, Stuart recalled. He was calling people pedophiles and yelling,” Take your face off, pussies.” Henson, however, was no longer a part of the enraged crowd on January 21 and was instead an official speech dressed in blue jacket, clothing shirt, and denim jeans.
In a statement that Stuart recorded, Henson said,” We’re making progress on the institutions that we’ve flipped, because we did so in this place.”
Stuart was drawn to that statement because it was much more calculated and proper in its concept than any of the others.
” When I posted about him on social media, many people came forward and said,” This guy harassed me,” and as a result, some people began trying to identify him,” Stuart said.
Stuart claimed that later, a group of activists and community reporters recognized the man identifying himself as” Ben Richards” as Henson after discovering various hints on social media.
Henson started regularly attending rallies and people sessions of institutions and school board throughout Southern California after the two gatherings at the YMCA in January. It appears from Stuart’s pictures and Henson-related social media accounts that he has attended at least nine demonstrations or hearings this time.
Henson enlisted in the Marines as a battle expert in November 2004, according to Marine Corps information made available to Martial .com. After being deployed to Iraq and receiving the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, he served until February 2009 before leaving as a commander.
According to Navy data, he joined that assistance in May 2010 and completed the difficult SEAL network right out of shoe camp before reporting to his first staff in 2011.
Henson served at the Navy Special Warfare Development Group, also known as SEAL Team Six, for just over a year, according to Tisdale, the navy’s official. The unit is frequently tasked with carrying out the most difficult, defined, and hazardous expeditions and is regarded as one of the government’s top special operations units.
Henson, posing as Ben Richards, conducted an hour-long appointment with a radio that was Christian-focused in March 2023. In April 2022, he claimed to have “activated” himself into protesting numerous class policies. His team’s goal is to “expose, concern, and resist critical race theory, extreme gender ideology, COVID and pc tyranny in our schools.”
Henson said, appearing to be referring to the LGBTQ+ movement,” It’s a Socialist indoctrination.”
Henson stated at one point in the conversation that he thought a “radical trans military” had targeted women, and that this led him to “bring people over to these rallies and they need shelter and those male energies.”
Stuart claims that she got to know and understand Henson over the course of the times on the far right, and the two frequently spoke. Stuart once questioned the soldier about his connection to the Proud Boys in July.
Henson immediately claimed he had no idea what the Proud Boys were. However, in the midst of the recorded conversation, Henson is approached by a group of people, prompting Stuart to say,” There’s your Happy Child friends!”
Why ca n’t they be my friends? Henson responded to the recording that Martial .com reviewed. ” So what?” They are my companions.
The” SoCal Parent Advocates” account criticized Stuart as a” known violent antifa member” and claimed that her photos were altered in an online post on Friday.
Stuart refuted the description in an email to Military .com, claiming that it was an attempt to discredit her work. She declared,” I do n’t belong to any group, and I share information with other journalists and researchers.”
— You may reach Konstantin Toropin at konstanin. www.toropin@military .com. At @ktoropin, follow him on X.
Related: Extremist groups are posing a growing danger. Veterans and support members are being drawn into the crime.
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