And Fox News has done it again. While attempting to cover the news of the war in Ukraine, Fox News praised a neo-Nazi for his volunteering to fight Russian invaders. About 16,000 volunteers from the U.S. and other countries have already joined the fight to help Ukraine. But of course, the one volunteer Fox and Friends has decided to focus on is white supremacist Paul Gray.
In a March 1 Fox News segment entitled “Former American paratrooper joins fight in Ukraine," Fox reporters praised Gray as a veteran volunteering to fight on behalf of Ukraine, but as always, they failed to mention his violent history. Instead, they focused on his service as a veteran and how he was “taking matters into his own hands” and now allegedly teaching Ukrainians to fight Russians.
"Ukrainians remind me a lot of my home state of Texas. They are fiercely independent. We have cowboys. They have cossacks." Gray said during the segment. He added: "I'm fighting to defend my home and their home here. I'm teaching them what I can, in as little time as I can, to help give them a chance to survive this invasion and slaughter by Russians."
He continued to emphasize how he was trying to kill as many people that are trying to kill Ukrainians as possible.
“It’s my whole obligation since living here in Ukraine. These are some of the best people in the world. They’re the best, as good as any of our friends and allies of America, and I love this country and when this invasion started I considered it my obligation to stand up and defined these people. This is their 1776. This is the fight of their generation and they’re not going to let this moment pass without fighting into the end, and it’s just extremely inspiring to see this. A lot of young Ukrainians are the first generation of independence in their country. Something their families and people have wanted for centuries. So it’s not something they are obligated to do, but they want to do it.”
According to The Austin Chronicle, Fox attempted to protect Gray's identity by using only his first name, but due to his prior racist history, he was easily recognizable to extremism researchers like Michael Edison Hayden, a senior investigative reporter and spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"They elect not to report his full name and don't even stop to ask why he might already be in Ukraine," Hayden told the Chronicle. "They just hope that the audience doesn't ask any questions because then Fox will be forced to dig deeper into an uncomfortable story about our problems with radicalization here at home."
According to the Chronicle, Gray not only helped organize racist events, including marches with neo-Nazi groups like the Traditionalist Workers Party, but he was active in a Texas-based terrorist group. The group, which is called the Atomwaffen Division, has been linked to several murders, the outlet said.
But that’s not all: Gray even partook in and organized events with a hate group called White Lives Matter.
It’s no surprise Fox News would bring someone like him on their show given the number of racists they invite, but failing to acknowledge any of his history is a major failure in reporting. One issue Hayden specifically took notice of is the lack of questions Fox asked about motive and intent. According to Hayden, many members of white supremacist groups have traveled across the globe to train and recruit others like them.
"This is something that's happened periodically over the last few years, because these are areas that are rife with conflict, making them hotbeds for this kind of activity," Hayden said. "We have obviously seen, really since the start of the alt-right era ... a lot of American white supremacists going to Eastern Europe for a number of different purposes. You should immediately ask questions as to why this person is there."
Volunteers have signed up to join the fight in response to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for help. On Twitter, Ukraine officials said: “Foreigners willing to defend Ukraine and world order as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, I invite you to contact foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine in your respective countries. Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too.” But while the volunteers claim they have no intention but helping Ukraine, given Gray's history it would be no surprise if Hayden is right.
At this time where Gray is, is undisclosed, but he's apparently doing training exercises with the group he volunteers with.
Watch the segment below: