Marine Lieutenant Stuart Scheller went viral last month after he criticized some of the top military commanders over the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, but he is now being detained in a military jail.
On the same day that a suicide bomber was attacked at a gate at the Kabul Airport last month, we learned that Scheller had posted a video to his Facebook account demanding accountability for his American commanders. This was just after 13 individuals perished.
Scheller said rank-and-file service members had been deeply offended that some of their commanders had advocated responsibility in the midst of the botched withdrawal.
The day after Scheller had posted that video, it was revealed that he had been “relieved of duty.” The next week, Scheller decided to resign from the Marine Corps.
The Details
The plot thickens when you consider that Scheller’s father, Stu Scheller Sr., is now revealing that his son is in a pretrial confinement for allegedly violating his gag order.
“They had a gag order on him and asked him not to speak,” the father told Task & Purpose. “He did, and they incarcerated him. They don’t know what to do with him.”
“All our son did is ask the questions that everybody was asking themselves, but they were too scared to speak out loud,” he added. “He was asking for accountability. In fact, I think he even asked for an apology that we made mistakes, but they couldn’t do that, which is mind-blowing.”
The elder Scheller also noted that his son is expected to appear at a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
What are the Marine Corps saying?
After Scheller’s father spoke in regards to his son, the Marine Corps released a statement confirming that yes, Scheller is indeed being detained ahead of a preliminary hearing.
“Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. is currently in pre-trial confinement in the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune pending an Article 32 preliminary hearing,” Capt. Sam Stephenson, a spokesman for Training and Education Command, said.
“The time, date, and location of the proceedings have not been determined. Lt. Col. Scheller will be afforded all due process,” Stephenson added.
Anything else?
Unfortunately, Scheller himself has admitted that he is probably going to receive a court-martial and might face some jail time.
The military is not specifying what type of crimes that Scheller might be accused of.
