Two Navy SEALs are facing disciplinary action after it was revealed they had been sharing racist memes about a Black SEAL in private Signal chats for years.
National security journalist Scott Hettena, the first to cover the story on his Substack, reported that some of the memes depicted the Black SEAL as a monkey and a slave.
The incident prompted a direct response from the SEALs’ top officer. Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, who leads Naval Special Warfare, addressed the allegations during all-hands meetings last week to SEALs on the East and West coasts and emphasized that racist behavior would not be tolerated.
“Naval Special Warfare investigated serious allegations of unprofessional conduct within one of our commands, and accountability measures are ongoing,” said Capt. Jodie Cornell, a spokeswoman for the command. “NSW is unwavering in its commitment to the highest standards of conduct. We are dedicated to fostering a climate of dignity and respect, and after conducting a thorough and fair investigation, we will hold anyone found responsible of misconduct accountable.”
In a sign of the importance the Defense Department has placed on this issue, the investigation was being followed at the very highest levels of the Pentagon.
🚨 New: A Black Navy SEAL was targeted with racist memes—depicted as a monkey and a chained slave—then lost his Trident on questionable grounds.
— Seth Hettena (@seth_hettena) May 20, 2025
Now, his case is testing the SEALs’ commitment to rooting out racism amid a Pentagon crackdown on DEI.https://t.co/DEIBwLgElb pic.twitter.com/xCc6Q6qbOW
One of the memes features a slave master holding a whip, standing next to Black men in chains. The slave master says when he asks the Black SEAL to do something, “I know he’ll do it.”
Another meme depicted the SEAL as a monkey wearing combat gear. Racists throughout history have referred to Black people as monkeys or apes.
The SEAL is being represented by attorney Tim Parlatore, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s personal attorney.
Parlatore referred to the two SEALs' actions as “a very shocking case of explicit and repeated racist memes directed at our client in a platoon-wide text thread.”
This type of behavior has no place in the Navy or the military, and we are grateful that Rear Adm. Sands and his staff took swift action to investigate, reverse the negative repercussions our client received, and move to hold people accountable,” he told Hettena.
However, the Black SEAL faced more than racist memes, according to Hettena.
A panel revoked the SEAL’s Trident last year — the gold pin worn by members of the SEAL community who have completed the grueling training and earned their place in the elite force. According to Parlatore, the same individuals who circulated the racist memes accused his client of safety violations. Sands has taken steps to reinstate the SEAL’s Trident, and Parlatore said the matter is resolved from his client’s perspective.
An investigation found that the platoon and the SEAL team failed to address the sailor’s claims about his racist treatment. The Associated Press reported that the two SEALs who created and shared the memes could face “non-judicial punishment and punitive letters in their files.”
“Both actions can be career ending, or can result in demotions or loss of pay,” the AP continued.