Damien Patton

Damien Patton (born July 11, 1972) is an American entrepreneur known for founding the AI company Banjo. He began his career in the U.S. Navy in 1991 and later transitioned to NASCAR, where he worked as a chief mechanic while earning a business degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

He founded Banjo in 2010, which evolved into a public safety AI event detection service, gaining significant contracts until his past involvement with white supremacist groups during his youth was revealed in 2020, leading to his resignation as CEO. He has since apologized for his actions as a youth, publicly saying he "spent most of my adult lifetime working to make amends for this shameful period in my life."

Career

Early career Patton joined the U.S. Navy in February 1991. In a 2015 Inc. profile, he said he wanted to enlist after seeing the 1990 Gulf War play out on TV. He said he rose up in rank on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. He left after two tours, ending up in San Diego, California. Patton told Inc. that he got his degree from University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Bryant School of Business in three years while working for NASCAR, graduating magna cum laude. He eventually moved to Hawaii and got into wood flooring, including manufacturing, selling it in 2006.

By 2009 Patton was taking graduate classes at MIT, commuting from Las Vegas to Boston.

Banjo's technology has led to early success, with media outlets like NBC and ESPN being among its first paying customers. The system's effectiveness was demonstrated during events such as a shooting at Florida State University, where Banjo alerted media faster than other sources.

Personal life and interests Patton was married to Lynn Battistelli of Memphis, Tennessee and had one child - at the time of his grand jury testimony in September 1991.

By 2015, Patton was married to Jennifer Peck, who worked at Banjo.

Controversies Patton was born on July 11, 1972. He participated in activities such as painting swastikas and impersonating an FBI agent. At 17, he was involved in a drive-by shooting of a synagogue, leading to his arrest and subsequent flight from the state. In 1992, during a trial, he admitted to past affiliations with skinheads in the Navy and pleaded guilty to a juvenile offense in exchange for testimony.

Later as an adult, Patton said of his childhood, "I did terrible things and said despicable and hateful things, including to my own Jewish mother, that today I find indefensibly wrong, and feel extreme remorse for. I have spent most of my adult lifetime working to make amends for this shameful period in my life."

"Damien’s story is a reminder how virtually anyone – particularly young people – can be swept up into a hate movement given the right conditions and circumstances," Greenblatt wrote, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging the potential for personal growth and atonement.