Army Links 22 To Skinhead Groups

Twenty-two soldiers in the elite 82nd Airborne Division have links to violent but not necessarily racist skinhead groups, Army investigators say.

Nonetheless, the internal investigation of the 15,000-member division found no evidence of any formal ties with local or national racist organizations.

The investigation was prompted by the arrest of three white 82nd Airborne soldiers in the Dec. 7 slayings of a black couple. Investigators say the man and woman were targeted because of their race.

The Army said the 22 soldiers were either linked to skinhead groups, associated with members of those groups, or held extremist views. Of those, 17 were considered to be white supremacists or separatists.

“While even one racist is too many, so far what we’ve identified is minimal involvement,” said Maj. Rivers Johnson Jr., spokesman for the 82nd Airborne. “You’re talking about a very, very small number of people.”

Some soldiers from Fort Bragg were skeptical about the findings.

“I definitely think there’s racism out there. I think there’s probably more than that,” Pfc. Jason Adams of the 623rd Quartermaster Corps told Raleigh television station WRAL Friday night.

James Florence, president of the Fayetteville NAACP chapter, called the report “a start in the right direction,” but insisted “there are definitely more” soldiers with racist views.