Anger grows over Kash Patel ‘vulgar snorkel party’ at Pearl Harbor memorial, FBI insists snorkel was to ‘honor heroes’

Kash Patel may rue the day he chose to go snorkelling at a prohibited mass war grave. News broke last Friday that in summer 2025, Patel went on what’s been billed as a “VIP snorkel” around the wreck of the USS Arizona.

The Arizona was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, killing 1,177 sailors and Marines. Over a thousand men’s remains still lie on the ocean floor inside the wreck. In the years following the war, it was decided to officially make the wreck a memorial – a sacred monument to those who gave their life for their nation.

As you might imagine, diving at this gravesite, as well as entering or disturbing is considered highly disrespectful. And yet Kash Patel seemed to think this was an ideal part of his Hawaiian vacation.

Patel is said to have snorkeled around the tomb for 30 minutes, with his trip being coordinated by the military to fit around his two-day Hawaiian sojourn between visits to Australia and New Zealand.

A solemn, respectful snorkel?

BREAKING AP:

When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note he was not on vacation.

Left out of FBI's news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a "VIP snorkel"…

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 14, 2026

The FBI is now adamant that Patel’s snorkeling trip was not a party and was instead a “historical tour to honor heroes who died on the USS Arizona.” Uh-huh. Nothing says respectful like snorkeling, right?

Well, whether his snorkeling trip was a respectful one or not, it’s certainly turned up the heat on Patel. His actions are now being roundly criticized, with Jeff Tiedrich describing this as a “vulgar snorkel party at a Pearl Harbor war memorial“.

William M McBride, a Navy veteran and professor emeritus at the United States Naval Academy, called the excursion “horrifying”, clarifying:

“This is a war grave with the same legal status as Arlington National Cemetery. Snorkeling around Arizona is as disrespectful as playing kickball on top of the graves at Arlington.”

Others dubbed this “beyond disgraceful”:

This is beyond disgraceful. The USS Arizona is a sacred resting place for over 900 Sailors and Marines who lost their lives in service to our nation.

Kash Patel’s job is to ensure the United States is safe and secure. Instead, he has treated his job like it's a free ticket to… https://t.co/co1XAgSFER

— Rebecca Bennett (@RebeccaForNJ07) May 17, 2026

And “downright shameful”:

Dear @WhiteHouse: Another day, another embarrassing story about Kash Patel. But this one is pretty bad.

Using taxpayer funds to fly to Olympics to drink is outrageous.

But snorkeling around the USS Arizona, a hallowed site where 1,177 Americans died, is downright shameful. https://t.co/z7wOSByCef

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 14, 2026

At some point or another, you have to imagine that Donald Trump will decide that enough is enough. Patel appears to be an active hindrance to the FBI solving crimes (where is Savannah Guthrie’s mom, anyway) – the only thing he is good at is generating embarrassing headlines that make the entire administration look bad.

We’ve heard that Patel is paranoid that he’s going to lose his job. Here’s hoping that paranoia is fully justified.