Travis King biography: 13 things about US Army soldier from Racine, Wisconsin

Travis T. King is an American soldier from Racine, Wisconsin, United States. His mother Claudine Gates is also a resident of Racine.

Among King’s awards as a soldier are the Korean Defense Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and Overseas Service Ribbon. He was a private second class in the U.S. Army.

King’s uncles Myron Gates and Carl Gates Jr. live in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 2016, Carl and Lakeia Nard‘s son King’Nazir Lafayette La’Carl Gates was born with a rare disease SPTLC2 gene mutation, falling under the pediatric amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) umbrella.

Originally, King was assigned to an element of the U.S. 1st Armored Division and was later administratively attached to a unit in 4th Infantry Division. He was a Cavalry Scout with the Korean Rotational Force, which is part of the U.S. security commitment to South Korea.

In July 2023, King allegedly solicited a Snapchat user to knowingly and willingly produce child pornography. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 2020, he graduated from Park High School in Racine.
2. In January 2021, he joined the U.S. Army.
3. At around 9:40 a.m. on September 25, 2022, he allegedly repeatedly punched a man, then 23, in the face at a nightclub near Hongdae, Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea. The victim did not want to press charges so he was not indicted.
4. At around 3:46 a.m. on October 8, 2022, he was involved in an altercation in Mapo District and when police officers tried to question him, he continued with his aggressive behavior without answering questions from the officers. He was placed in the backseat of their patrol car where he shouted expletives and insults against Koreans, the Korean army and the Korean police and kicked the vehicle’s door several times, causing about 584,000 won ($458) in damages. He later pleaded guilty to assault and destruction of public goods and paid 1 million won ($783) to fix the vehicle. He spent time in U.S. military detention in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, South Korea.
5. On February 8, 2023, the Seoul Western District Court fined him 5 million won ($4,000). He failed to pay the fine.
6. On February 28, 2023, his cousin King’nazzir passed away at age 6.
7. On May 24, 2023, he was booked into a detention facility in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea.
8. On July 10, 2023, he was released from the detention facility in Cheonan and was under observation at a U.S. military base in South Korea. On July 17, 2023, he completed out-processing from the facility.
9. On July 18, 2023, he was escorted by U.S. military officials to Incheon International Airport in Jung District, Incheon, South Korea for possible further disciplinary action in the U.S. He was expected to board a plane bound for Fort Bliss, Texas, USA. At the airport, he went to his gate but was missing a travel document needed to board the plane so an American Airlines employee escorted him out. Dressed in civilian clothes, he joined a group of 42 tourists visiting the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, Paju, Gyeonggi, South Korea. At around 3:27 p.m., he ran from the group, crossed the border willfully and without authorization and ended up in North Korea’s custody. Later that day, his mother told ABC News, “I can’t see Travis doing anything like that.”
10. He has a brother who is a police officer and a cousin who is in the U.S. Navy. On July 19, 2023, his brother told Fox 6 Milwaukee that their mother “already lost a child before, a son before.” 
11. On August 15, 2023, North Korea state-run media KCNA released a statement claiming that he “confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army” and “expressed his willingness to seek refugee in the DPRK or a third country”.
12. On September 27, 2023, KCNA reported that North Korea has decided to expel him. That day, the Swedish government retrieved him in North Korea and brought him across the border into China for a handoff to a Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China. On September 28, 2023, he was flown to Brooke Army Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas for medical evaluations.
13. He was 23 years old when he was detained on October 18, 2023 at Fort Bliss in Texas. The U.S. Army filed eight charges against him including desertation into North Korea, solicitation of child pornography, assault upon fellow soldiers, attempted escape from U.S. military custody and insubordination.