Months after a series of reports exposed a dozen known or suspected members of white nationalist groups in the U.S. military, officials have confirmed that four of those servicemen have separated from the armed forces, while another four have been allowed to remain in the Army.

Four others remain under investigation, officials said.

In March and April, HuffPost published two reports identifying 11 servicemen who belonged to Identity Evropa, the white nationalist group best known for helping organize the deadly 2017 Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In a separate report in May, HuffPost confirmed that the Army was investigating a 12th soldier for his alleged ties to the Atomwaffen Division , a neo-Nazi terror group that has been connected to five murders in the U.S. over the past two years.

The danger of white nationalist terror was brought into devastating focus this week after a gunman who reportedly held white nationalist views massacred 22 people in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. The man arrested in that attack does not appear to have any connections to the U.S. military. However, the serviceman with possible connections to the Atomwaffen Division is still stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, and is among the four who the Army has determined are still fit to serve.

Scholars of extremism and law enforcement officials have long warned about the risks of white nationalists serving in the armed forces, where they can pose a risk to fellow service members and receive combat training they can use to attack civilian targets. Earlier this year, federal authorities arrested a white nationalist Coast Guard lieutenant who prosecutors said had been stockpiling firearms to kill leftists and media figures as part of a plot to establish a white homeland.

Military regulations forbid service members from engaging in extremist activity or committing acts of discrimination, but an alarming 2017 Military Times poll found that nearly 25 percent of service members reported encountering white nationalists within their ranks.

The revelation that at least four of the 12 white nationalists exposed in HuffPosts reporting will be allowed to remain in the armed services raises questions about how seriously the U.S. military is disciplining its recruits and active-duty members for ties to extremist groups.

Citing privacy reasons, military officials largely declined to elaborate on why certain servicemen are no longer members of the armed forces and why others were allowed to remain.

Kicked Out