Texas A&M cadet allowed to skip training to work for white supremacist group: activists

A Texas A&M cadet was allowed to skip training to help a white nationalist group with logistical support ahead of its annual meeting, according to Creede Newtown at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch.

According to SPLC the cadet, Donovan Davis, in November 2017 asked Evan McLaren, the former executive director of white supremacist think tank the National Policy Institute, to write a letter to his superior on his behalf requesting permission to skip training so he could provide security for the NPI’s 2017 conference, an event that was held annually in Washington, D.C. until 2018.

The request was shared, according to SPLC, with Gregory Conte, who held multiple roles in white supremacist groups led by notorious alt-right provacateur Richard Spencer. Conte in 2017 and 2018 resigned from several of these groups, SPLC said.

The NPI is identified as a white supremacist lobbying group, according to the Library of Congress, citing DBpedia.

McLaren, who has since disavowed white supremacism, provided emails confirming the request to Hatewatch.

Newton writes that “Davis’ attendance at the 2017 conference raises questions about A&M Corps of Cadets and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) lack of vetting for extremist organizations and requests involving their cadets.

“The identities of those in NPI were all publicly available when Conte sent Davis’ captains the memo. Although Conte sent the email from an outside limited liability company (LLC), the registration for the LLC was publicly available and featured Conte’s name.”

Read more in Hatewatch