Ex-soldier said he enlisted in the Army to become 'more proficient in killing' Black people,...

A former soldier who is federally charged with lying in his application for a security clearance said he enlisted in the Army so he’d be “more proficient in killing” Black people, prosecutors allege.

Killian M. Ryan, who was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, held the rank of specialist and served in the Army until Aug. 26, a spokesperson with the XVIII Airborne Corps said in a statement Thursday.

Ryan “was separated from the Army for serious misconduct,” the statement said.

An affidavit filed Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court for Eastern North Carolina alleges that Ryan had online ties to people whose social media accounts were “associated with racially motivated extremism.”