Image by Getty Images

A doctoral student with government security clearance moonlights as a member of a violent white supremacist group, ProPublica and Frontline reported Thursday.

While working to identify the white supremacists at the center of the violent demonstrations across the country, ProPublica and Frontline looked into a video shot at the Unite the Right rally last August in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a man in a Make America Great Again hat and taped hands is seen pushing an African-American protester to the ground and pounding on him. He also turned up in video shot during hours of combat at a Trump rally in Berkeley. Wearing protective goggles to ward off pepper spray, the man wrestled one protester to the ground and punched others.

A number of California law enforcement officials confirmed that the man, Michael Miselis, is a member of the The Rise Above Movement, a Southern California group that expresses contempt for Muslims, Jews and immigrants. He is also working as a systems engineer for Northrop Grumman, the giant defense contractor, as he pursues his Ph.D. in the aerospace engineering program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Several current and former employees at Northrop Grumman told ProPublica and Frontline that Miselis has received a security clearance to work in a computer modeling and simulation group within Northrop’s aerospace division.

Miselis is still employed, and it is unclear if the company has taken any action against him.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount