It’s just being reported that the Marine Corp is ordering a court martial for Lt. Col. Scheller and charging him with six different charges:
MEDIAITE – The Marine Corps announced Wednesday it was referring six charges against Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller for allegedly violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice to court-martial.
A spokesman for Training and Education Command said the charges include contempt toward officials; disrespect toward superior commissioned officers; willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer; failure to obey orders; dereliction of duty; and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
The charges are a new development in the case against Scheller, a 17-year Marine Corps veteran who was relieved of duty in August for publishing a video on Facebook critical of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. They also follow his Tuesday release from a military brig at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, where he was detained for eight days for allegedly violating a gag order that prohibited him from posting on social media.
Scheller’s detention drew attention from members of Congress, including 12 Republican House members who sent a letter last week calling for his case to receive an expedited review, writing that his confinement “appears to be simply for messaging, retribution, and convenience.”
As Jennifer Griffin explained this morning, Scheller would need to be found guilty of these charges, or at least some of them, and could then be dishonorably discharged.
Seriously, what a high price to pay for simply speaking out. As Scheller has already acknowledged, he’s lost his retirement and now it looks like it might only get worse for him and his family.
Seems to me that he’s really pissed someone off in the Marine Corp and they want to send a strong message by punishing him as harshly as possible. Perhaps the court will have some mercy on him…