The Navy investigation into a San Diego Navy SEAL accused of having ties to extremists concluded the sailor didn’t violate Pentagon rules against participation in extremist activity, according to a Navy official with knowledge of the investigation.
The official is not authorized to comment publicly on the case.
The Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado launched an investigation into Chief Special Warfare Operator Bryce Henson in November. The SEAL spent more than a year prior speaking at rallies, city councils and school boards — first against Critical Race Theory then against LGBTQ+ student rights.
Photos and videos from several events showed Henson in the company of alleged members of the Proud Boys, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group.
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Henson was also photographed alongside a man with a large Nazi eagle tattoo on his head and swastika tattoo on his arm during two separate Santee anti-LGBTQ+ rallies in January 2023.
Chief Special Warfare Operator Bryce Henson, appearing under the pseudonym Ben Richards at a Jan. 25, 2023 Santee city council meeting.
He was featured in a Los Angeles Times investigation into the coordinated conservative actions at Southern California school boards in October.
The Navy’s investigation into Henson was finished in mid-January, the Navy official said. Although Henson was cleared of extremism allegations the investigator did find the SEAL engaged in threatening behavior, according to the official.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice — military law — communicating threats is punishable under Article 115.
It’s not clear what threats the Navy’s investigation reviewed and the official did not say. But on Jan. 25 — after the investigation was complete — Henson took to Instagram to share a video of himself shooting guns.
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“Since certain people leaked my work history to the press,” Henson wrote in the video’s caption, “I guess I’ll share my skill sets with my friends in hopes to spread awareness of exercising our 2nd Amendment rights safely and legally. …”
The video features Henson, in his Navy uniform, giving basic gun safety instructions and shooting.
Henson shared another video speculating on the identity of an anonymous Instagram user who runs an account called “TheChartyB.” The person running the account maintains a website that charts connections between several right-wing groups and figures prominently in the Southern California anti-LGBTQ+ school board movement.
Henson is featured in the chart.
In the second video, Henson incorrectly identified San Diego journalist Brooke Binkowski as the person behind TheChartyB.
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Binkowski covers disinformation and previously worked for fact-checking news sites. She said people only threaten journalists when they’re doing a good job.
“Despite what far-right activists think, I am not the same person as the one running TheChartyB,” Binkowski wrote in a statement. “However, I do believe the threats … are an attempt to abrogate and interfere with my 1st Amendment rights and a threat to the public’s right to a free press.”
Henson also sent a direct message to TheChartyB on Instagram telling them to “show their face.”
Just past midnight on Jan. 26, Henson sent his shooting video to TheChartyB in an Instagram DM and wrote, “share with your friends.”
Screenshot courtesy of TheChartyB
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Screenshot of DMs sent to anonymous Instagram account TheChartyB’s from “Ben Richards,” an alias of Chief Special Warfare Operator Bryce Henson, in which he accuses San Diego disinformation journalist of running the account, says “show your face,” and sends a video of him shooting guns in his Navy uniform with the message “share with your friends.”
The person behind the account told KPBS she feared for her safety.
“It felt very threatening,” she said. “To me, it’s clearly threatening. He said ‘share with your friends.’”
She describes herself as a “suburban housewife” who cares about LGBTQ+ rights. KPBS agreed not to publish her name over her safety concerns.
“It’s scary having somebody send you threatening messages when they’ve been trained by the U.S. military to be a killing machine,” she said.
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She began tracking Henson last year when he started showing up in Temecula where a new conservative school board took over in late 2022.
Henson first appeared early in 2023 when the school board voted to ban critical race theory. He also spoke out when the board moved to reject the California state social studies curriculum over material covering the gay-rights movement.
In August, it voted to require teachers to tell parents when their child asks to use a different name, pronoun or identifies as transgender at school. The moves mobilized Temecula’s LGBTQ+ community.
Members of that community told KPBS, Henson began harassing and threatening them months before the Navy’s investigation began.
Judy Bailey Savage owns the Savage Ranch. Situated in the hills overlooking the Temecula wine country, the ranch serves as a refuge for the area’s queer community, Savage said.
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The Temecula Valley as seen from a hill near Savage Ranch on Jan. 30, 2024.
Savage said, even though she didn’t attend Temecula Valley School Board meetings, Henson began leaving rude comments on her Instagram posts from anonymous accounts. Other community activists told her about him, so she responded the next time a troll commented on her account.
“I said, ‘oh, it’s you, Bryce,’” Savage said. “And he said: ‘Yes.’”
Judy Bailey Savage sits on a rock in the sunshine near Savage Ranch in Temecula on Jan. 30, 2024.
She said Henson once called her late at night and asked if she knew who it was. She said when she told him she didn’t know, the person on the phone said “I’m Bryce.”
“I asked him, ‘why are you stalking me, why are you calling me?’” Savage said. “And he goes, ‘well, I’ve already surveilled your property.’”
Temecula pastor Rachel Dennis, a parent of a trans child, said even if Henson himself isn’t dangerous, she isn’t sure about his nearly 7,000 Instagram followers.
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“Because we see that extremism and the language on his Instagram … can then produce the violence in in some people,” Dennis said.
She said the experiences of the last year have the Temecula LGBTQ+ community on alert.
“Sometimes, you know, we’re sitting out here scared, honestly,” she said. “Navy SEAL, I mean, you’re talking about somebody who’s been trained in special operations, in weapons — so, yeah, that makes it a little bit more scary, right?”
In an emailed statement, Henson didn’t comment on the allegations of sending threats. Instead, he writes that he’s a father who’s been smeared by people.
Bishop Garrison, a senior fellow with the National Security Institute at George Mason Law School, who helped craft new Pentagon rules on extremism among service members, said there’s real danger when members of the military become radicalized.
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“It is a very small, minute group of actors that have engaged this type of activity, but our major concerns is that this activity has a direct outsized impact,” Garrison said. “Not only can you can you deteriorate unit cohesion, not only can you disrupt the good order and discipline of units — people get hurt.”
He says the Pentagon’s policy on extremist behavior is written broadly so that any allegations need to be considered in context, but it’s not perfect. Further action is needed to address the problem.
“What we need is for … Congress to stand up and make some very specific laws and rules around what our expectations of this type of behavior, really, truly should be,” Garrison said.
The Navy classifies Henson’s investigation as administrative and a Naval Special Warfare spokesperson said he won’t comment on any administrative actions.
“When there are allegations of misconduct, we investigate and take appropriate action based on the facts,” said Cmdr. William Tisdale. “We expect our sailors who choose to engage in public discourse to do so peacefully and in a lawful manner. As a matter of policy, we will not release specific details about administrative matters regarding our sailors.”
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A Navy official with knowledge of the case Henson could either receive minor punishment or more serious repercussions, such as being kicked out of the SEALs or the Navy altogether.
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Chaldean Catholic bishop of San Diego, California, a decision announced Tuesday by the Vatican after the bishop was arrested on embezzlement charges. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said last week it had arrested Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta on Thursday at San Diego International Airport as he tried to leave the country, reports the AP. The office said it acted after someone from Shaleta’s church provided a statement and documentation “showing potential embezzlement from the church.” Shaleta was being held on $125,000 bail on eight counts of embezzlement, money laundering, and aggravated white collar crime, the statement said. Shaleta pleaded not guilty on Monday, reports NBC San Diego.
“He was on his way to Germany,” prosecutor Joel Madero said. “Given his access to funds, the fact that he had over $9,000 in the bag when he was stopped, and the fact that he has these international ties … I do believe that some bail to ensure he shows up is appropriate.” There was no immediate reply to an email sent to Shaleta’s parish, St. Peter Chaldean Church, seeking comment and contact information for his attorney. The Vatican said in its daily bulletin Tuesday that Leo had accepted Shaleta’s resignation under the code of canon law for eastern rite churches that allows for the pope to agree if a bishop asks to step down.
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Leo actually accepted the resignation when Shaleta presented it in February, but an announcement was not made until Tuesday, according to the Vatican embassy in Washington. The Holy See appears to have waited to announce the decision to avoid interfering with the police investigation. Leo named Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop as a temporary administrator. Shaleta, 69, was ordained a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Detroit in 1984. He was named to the San Diego branch of the eastern rite Catholic Church in the US in 2017.
36.9 — The percentage of groundballs that Márquez yielded in 2025, a career low and significantly below his career average (48%). Márquez’s groundball rate was regularly above 50% before requiring Tommy John surgery in early 2023. He made one start in 2024 and struggled mightily while making 26 starts last year.
TRENDING
Down — Márquez had a 4.40 ERA through his first seven years in the majors, not bad considering he pitched roughly half his games at one of the best hitting environments in the majors. In fact, Márquez has a 5.17 ERA in his career at Coors Field and a 4.22 ERA in road environments. But Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2023, made one start in the majors in mid-July in 2024 (4 IP, 3 ER) and struggled throughout his first full year back in the Rockies rotation. The season was so difficult for Márquez that he was actually worse on the road (7.32 ERA) than he was in 11 starts at Coors Field (5.98 ERA). His strikeout rate (5.9 per nine innings) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.73) were the worst of his careers, as was his walk rate (3.4 per nine innings), while his hit rate (12.0 per nine innings) was the second worst of his career. On top of that, Márquez’s groundball rate was also the lowest of his career (see stat to note) and ranked in the bottom 22nd percentile of the league and his hard-hit rate (48.5%) and average exit velocity (91.7 mph) both ranked in the bottom 2 percentile of the league. One reason: a 94.8 mph four-seamer is down a few ticks than the height of his effectiveness. Márquez reached free agency after the season and signed with the Padres in February.
2026 OUTLOOK
Márquez has a big-league deal with the Padres, but he’ll have to rediscover his pre-elbow-reconstruction form to hold onto a roster spot, as RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) is expected to push for a spot at some point this season and the likes of LHP JP Sears, RHP Matt Waldron and minor league signees like Marco Gonzales could warrant looks if Márquez’s struggles continue into 2026.
German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres participates in drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In today’s Daily Dirt, I mentioned that the search at San Diego was done. Here’s the official announcement from USD on the hiring of JR Blount as their next head men’s basketball coach:
University of San Diego Athletics has named JR Blount the 15th head coach in San Diego men’s basketball program history, USD Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey announced on Monday.
Blount arrives in San Diego with a reputation as one of college basketball’s rising coaching talents after helping lead Iowa State to four NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.
He joins the Toreros after five seasons on T.J. Otzelberger’s staff at Iowa State, where the Cyclones compiled a 95-45 record during his tenure, won the 2024 Big 12 Tournament Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2024 — one of the most successful stretches in program history. Iowa State finished in the AP Top 15 in each of those four seasons and climbed as high as No. 2 nationally in each of the last two years. During the 2025-26 season, the Cyclones opened with a 16-0 start, highlighted by victories over No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 9 Kansas and No. 14 St. John’s.
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“After a thorough and highly competitive national search, we are proud to welcome JR Blount as the next head coach of USD men’s basketball,” said Massey. “JR is an outstanding leader, a relentless competitor and one of the brightest rising coaches in college basketball. Even more importantly, throughout this process I came to know him as a humble leader with strong integrity and deep family values. JR has been a part of winning at every level of his career and understands what it takes to build a program that competes with toughness, discipline and consistency. Just as importantly, he believes in developing young men holistically and leading in a way that reflects the values of this university.
“This is a pivotal moment for our program and JR’s vision aligns with our belief that San Diego men’s basketball should compete in the upper tier of the WCC and position itself to be a regular NCAA Tournament participant. We are excited about what lies ahead under his leadership.”
“As a product of Catholic education and deeply committed to USD’s mission and values, Coach Blount is an outstanding role model for the young men in our Torero basketball program,” said USD President James T. Harris III. “He brings an impressive resume with deep experience, a winning track record and — above all — a commitment to the overall wellbeing of our student-athletes.”
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead USD men’s basketball,” Blount said. “We are so thankful to Athletic Director Kimya Massey and President Harris for this opportunity. This is more than just a coaching position for me — it’s a chance to become part of a community and build something meaningful. My wife and our three daughters are excited to make this move together and we can’t wait to invest in this university and the relationships that make it special.
I come to USD with a deep desire to win — to compete relentlessly, to develop our young men to their fullest potential and to build a program our fans can be proud of. Winning championships is important, but so is building a culture of toughness, accountability and love. We’re going to work every day to represent USD the right way, on and off the court. I’m ready to get started.”
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Blount played a key role in Iowa State’s rise under Otzelberger, helping orchestrate one of the most significant program turnarounds in recent Division I history. In his first season with the Cyclones in 2021-22, Iowa State rebounded from a two-win campaign the year before to finish 22-13 and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Cyclones quickly established a national reputation for defensive toughness, ranking among the nation’s best in scoring defense, defensive efficiency, steals and turnovers forced.
Over the next three seasons, Blount helped Iowa State sustain that momentum. In 2022-23, the Cyclones advanced to the NCAA Tournament and recorded nine wins over AP Top 25 opponents, tied for the most in school history. In 2023-24, Iowa State won the Big 12 Championship, finished 29-8, posted an undefeated 18-0 record at Hilton Coliseum and advanced to the Sweet 16. Most recently, the 2024-25 Cyclones finished 25-10, climbed as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, earned another NCAA Tournament appearance and closed the season ranked No. 17 nationally.
Known for his work in player development, recruiting and culture-building, Blount has mentored multiple all-conference and All-America caliber players throughout his coaching career. At Iowa State, he developed some of the Big 12’s top performers while contributing to a program identity rooted in toughness, connectivity and competitive excellence.
Prior to Iowa State, Blount spent three seasons at Colorado State, where he helped elevate the Rams into one of the Mountain West’s top programs. During his tenure in Fort Collins, Colorado State signed the highest-rated recruiting class in program history and posted consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 20-8 finish and a run to the NIT semifinals in 2020-21. He also played a leadership role in Colorado State’s Together Initiative, which promoted social justice and racial equality on campus.
Blount also previously served in coaching roles at Drake and Saint Leo and began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where the program won the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship.
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A former three-year team captain and two-time team MVP at Loyola University Chicago, Blount later played professionally for the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball League during the 2010-11 season. He earned degrees in psychology and sociology from Loyola in 2009 and later received his master’s degree in education from UW-Stevens Point in 2012.
A native of Milwaukee, Blount and his wife, Ashley, have three daughters: Maya, Zuri and Gema.
