Weeks after hundreds of US Marines were exposed for sharing explicit nude photos of female service members and veterans, the sleazy scandal continues on Facebook — and the former administrator of one such group told The Post it was all just a failed sting op.
Tim Luckey, 43, served as the administrator of one of two private Facebook groups called Marines United 3.0 that had more than 200 members until he was contacted by a Post reporter late Wednesday. Luckey, of Medford, Minn., claims to have launched the group weeks ago after seeing the widespread carnage left behind by the original Facebook group called Marines United to trap unsuspecting users and report them.
“I made my page with the intent to report people for posting those things,” Luckey said of the graphic images of purported active-duty service members and veterans and previously shared on the private group. “I am totally against any kind of sexual assault against men or women, it gets my blood boiling. I don’t think a sexual assault against anybody is welcome for any frickin’ reason.”
Luckey, who never completed basic training after joining the Army in 2002, said he was a member of a previous iteration of the Marines United group and decided to make his own version “like a troll” and began posting nude photos of some “military chicks” before growing dissatisfied by the lack of content posted by others.
“I didn’t know how these other pages were able to share nude photos,” he said. “I saw that and said, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’”
He then received a message from Facebook on Wednesday that he violated the site’s community standards regarding nudity, informing him that he would be banned for 24 hours. After receiving another message from Facebook about the page’s content and an inquiry from The Post, he decided it was time to shut it down, he said.
Luckey acknowledged not reporting anyone to Facebook and said he had no regrets about his purported plan to set other users up by posting nude photos of unsuspecting service members only to entice others to do the same.
“I guess it’s kind of two-faced, but I don’t know these people,” he told The Post. “I don’t know anybody on that page. I never invited anybody to that page. It wasn’t secret for a reason.”
Luckey dismissed questions on the plausibility of his scheme, saying he had nothing to hide as a civilian who cannot be prosecuted under the Military Code of Justice.
“You can look at it how you want to look at it – that’s what I was doing,” he said. “Like I said, I’m not trying to hide anything from you, or lie to you … What I said, what I told you, was actually all there is.”
As of Thursday, at least one other private Facebook group called Marines United 3.0 exists, with 214 members, 177 of which are listed as “new,” according to the group. In a statement to The Post, a Facebook spokesperson said the social media giant aims to create an “open and safe environment” for its users.
“We do not allow harassment and remove content that appears to purposefully target private individuals with the intention of degrading or shaming them,” the statement reads. “We also remove content that threatens or promotes sexual violence or exploitation. We encourage people to report content to us for review when they see something that should not be on Facebook, and also suggest reaching out to law enforcement directly if there is a situation in which the authorities can help.”
Luckey, according to screenshots captured by The Post prior to the group’s removal, posted a photo of a topless woman wearing an Army cap behind an American flag.
“God Bless America,” Luckey wrote.
Another photo posted by Luckey shows a topless woman whose nipples are covered by the shoulder strap of an M240 machine gun.
“The secret is to always write something with [the] image,” Luckey wrote in a separate post to encourage other members in the group to share their own. “It’s always worked for me.”
Other members in the group prior to its shuttering, according to screenshots captured by The Post, included Facebook users who identified themselves as active-duty members of the Army, Navy and Marines. One user indicated he was a lance corporal for the Marines, while another said he operated tanks for the Army.
Meanwhile, Luckey’s personal Facebook page indicates that he works for the Wounded Warrior Project, although the group told The Post that Luckey is not a “representative or staff member” of the organization and has not served the Florida-based veterans group in any capacity.
When asked by The Post about the discrepancy, Luckey acknowledged not being entirely forthright.
“When I tried to put that I was ‘Alumni’ with WWP, it showed up that I worked there,” Luckey wrote. “I need to fix that.”
Luckey is also identified as a member of the official “Wounded Warrior Project Team” on a Tough Mudder website for the military-style races with grueling obstacles.
“I’m also a huge University of Alabama football fan who lives in Minnesota,” the website reads.
Luckey also admitted that identifying himself as a former armor crewman for the Army – responsible for operating tanks and other armored equipment – was somewhat deceptive as well, as he never completed basic training.
Army officials contacted by The Post on Thursday said they were in the process of confirming Luckey’s service record after asking for his date of birth and the topic being covered.
“Anticipate having a response within the next few hours,” an Army spokesperson wrote.
The Defense Department is reportedly investigating hundreds of Marines who posted images on the original Marines United group, which was first uncovered by a nonprofit news organization called The War Horse.
“In one instance, a female corporal in uniform was followed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, by a fellow Marine, who surreptitiously photographed her as she picked up her gear,” Thomas Brennan, a Marine vet who runs the outlet, reported earlier this month. “Those photographs were posted on the Facebook group Marines United, which has nearly 30,000 followers, drawing dozens of obscene comments.”
The scandal has also prompted the Marine Corps to issue a new social media policy that allows military officials wider latitude to prosecute and punish service members who engage in “questionable online activities,” according to the policy.