Army personnel in charge of security at the gates of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, received an anti-terroism briefing Wednesday, training that typically gives a mundane rundown of how to identify potential threats.
But this PowerPoint presentation had a glaring difference: It conflated mainstream lobbying groups, partisan organizations and non-violent political activism with terror groups such as the Islamic State and the Ku Klux Klan.
A photo of the slide presentation went viral online and raised the ire of Republicans on Capitol Hill and far-right commentators online for highlighting two groups in particular as terrorist organizations -- National Right to Life and Operation Rescue, both anti-abortion lobbying groups that have no record of acting violently.
The Army repudiated the presentation, saying it will review such briefings in the future. The botched briefing comes as the Pentagon grapples with legitimate extremism in the military ranks and provides a snapshot of how educating the force on threats at the ground level can be mishandled.
"The slides were developed by a local garrison employee to train soldiers manning access control points at Fort Liberty," an Army spokesperson told Military.com in a statement. "These slides will no longer be used, and all future training products will be reviewed to ensure they align with the current DoD anti-terrorism guidance."
National Right to Life describes itself as the oldest and largest pro-life organization in the U.S., with 3,000 local chapters across the country. The group advocates for anti-abortion education and legislation, and opposes assisted suicide.
"In a presentation that is deeply offensive to pro-life Americans across the nation, Fort Liberty promoted outright lies about National Right to Life in a demonstration of lazy scholarship," Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said in a statement. "In our over 50-year history, National Right to Life has always, consistently and unequivocally condemned violence against anyone."
Operation Rescue is a Christian activist organization that says it uses "investigative techniques to expose deceit, neglect and abuse within the Abortion Cartel, while demanding enforcement of state and federal standards and statutes."
But the briefing on threats also lumped in left-wing groups, according to a copy of the slides obtained by Military.com. Those included People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, a nonviolent animal rights group, which has long blasted the Army for using working dogs, as well as using animals as test subjects.
The briefing noted PETA as an extremist group, seemingly conflating it with the Animal Liberation Front -- an international extremist animal rights group with a history of violence, including firebombing. PETA was investigated by the FBI in the early 2000s, but a Justice Department inspector general report later found that investigation to be inappropriate.
Some information in the presentation appeared more accurate but was outdated. Earth First and the Earth Liberation Front, eco-terror groups with histories of arson and bombings, were listed in the slides, though such groups have lost much of their relevance in recent decades. The Weather Underground and Black Panthers, both listed as terrorist groups, were active decades ago.
It did identify violent movements that are more current, such as neo-Nazis and the Christian Identity Movement, which was connected to the Oklahoma City bombing but may be having a resurgence.
The Army kicked off a 15-6 investigation into the presentation amid the public outcry, one source with direct knowledge of the situation told Military.com. The investigations can be wide-ranging, often include dozens of interviews, and are tools that inform decisions on disciplinary action.
The individual who gave the class did not create the presentation themselves, and it was not immediately unclear who made it and how it got into the formal training.
The presentation was shared widely on social media, and quickly caught the attention of conservative commentators and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. A statement posted on X from the House Armed Services Committee noted that it was "demanding answers" from the Army on the matter.
The service has struggled to articulate what is and isn't extremism, sometimes conflating partisan or political movements as radicalism. It recently issued a set of new policies that allow it to more easily hold soldiers accountable for expressing radical views -- even when off duty, when such views may otherwise be constitutionally protected.
The policies generally bar speech and actions that side with violence against the government or systemic discrimination.
