Northrup Investigating White Supremacist Employee With Security Clearance
Image by Getty Images
By Aiden Pink July 5, 2018
The major defense contractor Northrup Grumman said Thursday that it is “taking immediate action” in response to a report claiming that one of its employees who possesses a security clearance from the Department of Defense is also a member of a violent white supremacist group.
ProPublica and Frontline reported earlier Thursday that systems engineer Michael Miselis, who works in a computer modeling and simulation group within Northrop’s aerospace division, is a member of the violent group Rise Above Movement (RAM) and marched in the white supremacist rally last year in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The ProPublica/Frontline report identified Miselis as having pushed an African-American protester to the ground and beating him in Charlottesville, and also wrestled and punched protesters at a Trump rally in Berkeley, California.
Northrup did not respond to multiple requests for comment for the story, but current and former employees say that the company knew about his involvement with RAM and actions in Charlottesville.
“Northrop Grumman was recently made aware of alleged employee actions that are counter to our values,” the company tweeted after publication of the story. “Northrop Grumman is absolutely committed to the highest levels of ethics & integrity in all that we do, & ensuring that our workplace reflects our values of diversity & inclusion. We do not tolerate hatred or illegal conduct and we condemn racist activities in any shape or form. We are taking immediate action to look into the very serious issues raised by these reports.”
RAM is small, with only around 20 members, but is filled with former felons and recruits from Nazi skinhead organizations, according to the report.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
