Lt Col Stu Scheller faces hearing for blasting chaotic Afghan exit
Parents Kathy and Stuart Scheller Sr. discuss their son's case on 'The Story'
A U.S. Marine who posted videos on social media criticizing military leadership and the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan will face a court-martial hearing next Thursday and Friday at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. faces six misdemeanor-level charges, including willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, dereliction in the performance of duties and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, the Marine Corps said in a release.
Scheller was freed from the brig last week where he was being held for violating an agreement to stop posting criticism on social media.
He was relieved of his command at one of Camp Lejeune’s infantry training battalions in August after posting the videos to Facebook and LinkedIn after a bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul took the lives of 13 U.S. service members as well as dozens of Afghan citizens.
MARINE WHO CRITICIZED MILITARY LEADERS ON AFGHANISTAN EXIT CHARGED WITH SIX CRIMES
"Did anyone raise their hand and say, ‘We completely messed this up?'" Scheller had asked in a video. "I’m not saying we can take back what has been done. All I asked for was accountability, for people to comment on what I said and to say, ‘Yes. Mistakes were made.’ And had they done that I would've gone back into rank and file, submitted, and accomplished what I wanted."
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. faces six misdemeanor-level charges for criticizing the Afghanistan withdrawal on social media. (Fox News)
Many conservatives have rallied behind Scheller for speaking out about the chaotic withdrawal from the 20-year war and his parents have said his punishment seems needlessly harsh.
"They are trying to bury our son," his mother Cathy Scheller told Tucker Carlson late last month.
"He broke chain of command … his crime was speaking truth to power, and power couldn't handle it," his father Stu Scheller said in the same interview. "While he broke chain of command – [Gens.] Austin, Milley, McKenzie – they broke the chain of trust and confidence in the American people. We're mad, we're mad as hell."
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Scheller is a decorated Marine who has served for 17 years.
His other charges include contempt toward officers, disrespect toward superior commissioned officers and failure to obey order or regulation.
Fox News' Lucas Y. Tomlinson, Hannah Grossman, Angelica Stabile and Michael Lee contributed to this report.
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