FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly toured USS Arizona wreckage in August under an arrangement described by officials as a “VIP snorkel,” prompting controversy.
A reported “VIP snorkel” by FBI Director Kash Patel around the wreckage of the USS Arizona has sparked fresh backlash over whether a sacred World War II site was treated with the solemnity it demands.
The incident centers on Patel’s reported visit last August to Pearl Harbor’s USS Arizona battleship—where more than 900 sailors and Marines who died during the 1941 attack are entombed.. The USS Arizona is widely regarded as a cemetery and is not open to the general public. including tourists and families of the Arizona victims.
Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Patel toured the underwater wreckage as officials later described it as a “VIP snorkel” session.. At the time. the FBI maintained that the director was not on vacation. saying he was visiting Hawaii’s field office and meeting with local law enforcement representatives.
Two days later. after his official business was completed. Patel reportedly returned to Hawaii and went back into the water—an additional detail the FBI did not disclose when it explained the trip.. The controversy now hinges on the gap between what was initially communicated publicly and what internal records suggest occurred afterward.
FBI officials framed the visit as part of Patel’s broader national security responsibilities in the Indo-Pacific. An FBI spokesman told Rolling Stone that the Pearl Harbor stop was included among “our engagements in the Indo-Pacific theater” and that the visit was hosted by the IndoPacom Commander.
The Navy and the National Parks Service oversee the site.. Access is limited because the Arizona wreck is reachable only by boat. and visits typically involve Parks Service officials and marine archeologists working to assess the condition of the remains.. While military and government officials with roles in maintaining the site have visited. the report highlights that encounters with people without a specific link to the USS Arizona are unusual and potentially risky.
Navy and National Parks Service representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.. Navy spokesperson Capt.. Jodie Cornell told the newswire that the visit occurred but would not say how it was arranged.. The report. however. indicates that government emails suggest military officials helped set up the underwater tour. while the National Parks Service said it was not involved.
Even within the official ecosystem surrounding the site, some details drew criticism. A Navy representative told the newswire that visits like Patel’s were “not an anomaly.” But not everyone reacted with the same view of what the USS Arizona represents.
Hack Albertson. a Marine veteran who says he dives around the Arizona annually to check its condition. objected to Patel’s presence.. He compared the episode to treating the memorial as though it were a venue for celebration rather than remembrance. telling the newswire that it felt wrong to him.. Albertson’s criticism was met with pushback online from Ben Williamson. assistant director of public affairs for Patel. who disputed the framing and said the stop was intended to honor those who died on the USS Arizona rather than to be celebratory.
The backlash also arrives as Patel has faced scrutiny in recent months over the use of government resources for personal or leisure moments.. The report points to video showing Patel celebrating with the U.S.. men’s hockey team in their locker room at the Olympics in Milan. as well as allegations that he used taxpayer-funded planes to travel to visit his girlfriend.
For the USS Arizona site. the stakes are partly practical—who is allowed near a fragile underwater cemetery—and partly symbolic.. The wreck is not just a historical landmark but a final resting place. commemorated by President Franklin Roosevelt’s description of the attack as “a date which will live in infamy.” That is the context shaping how some observers see Patel’s reported visit: not as a routine governmental engagement. but as a decision that may require tighter boundaries between official business and access to hallowed ground.
As the FBI’s account of the “Indo-Pacific” framing continues to be weighed against internal email records and public reaction. the episode is raising a broader question about how high-level officials should handle access to sensitive memorial sites—and what oversight should apply when the public is told one thing but the record suggests another.
Kash Patel FBI Director USS Arizona Pearl Harbor VIP snorkel Indo-Pacific engagements FOIA emails
so he just went swimming around dead soldiers basically
I dont understand why this is even news, politicians get special access to things all the time and nobody says anything. But now suddenly its a big deal because of who it is. The whole thing feels like another witch hunt to me honestly. Let the man do his job.
my grandpa actually served in pearl harbor and survived and he would be absolutely disgusted by this. that ship is a grave site plain and simple. you dont go snorkeling around someones grave for fun and then have your people lie about it and say it was work related. and the fact he went back TWO more times after makes it so much worse like why does he keep going back, what is he even looking for down there. this is just disrespectful on every level and people defending it need to think about what they would say if it was someone they didnt like politically doing the exact same thing.
wait i thought the USS Arizona was in a museum in Arizona?? why is it underwater in Hawaii, am i missing something here because this whole article is confusing me. Either way snorkeling on a military base sounds like it should be illegal regardless of who you are so im not sure how this was even allowed in the first place.