Active-Duty GI Announces Conscientious Objector Filing at Anti-Trump Rally
The Navy Corpsman Cites US Military's Destruction of the Environment & Support for Genocide as Motivators
In a new video shot on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration an active-duty US service member announced, in a speech encouraging others to explore their rights to conscientious objection, that he would be submitting his CO packet this week.
He spoke to a crowd gathered in the military town of San Diego, protesting Trump’s inauguration along with 80 other cities and towns across the United States.
The GI, who is remaining anonymous for now, is a Navy Corpsman (combat medic) who has served for 7 years. He is a Non-Commissioned Officer leading a small unit. In a discussion with Empire Files, he says his eyes began to open while deployed at sea to intercept suspected drug-running boats, as part of an assault team that boarded vessels and detained its crews.
In his speech, he states:
“The reality of being a US service member is this: We are not defending the interest of the American people. We are members of the working class, defending the interest of the capitalist elite. And the elite’s interest include destroying the global ecosystem; destabilizing countries overseas; murdering millions of innocent people around the globe; and spending billions of dollars on genocide all in the name of becoming disgustingly rich, while the working class struggles to make it through each day.”
After proving information about CO rights to a crowd that likely included other service members, he announced “I myself will be dropping my [CO] packet this week,” greeted with excited applause from the crowd.
This is the latest case in a surge of CO filings in response the US military’s direct role in supporting the Gaza genocide, as we previously reported in an exclusive story.
Despite the ceasefire agreement, new flashpoints for dissent within the ranks appear to be on the horizon. Arch-reactionary Pete Hegseth–who in his civilian career worked as a lobbyist to increase troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as working for the Koch Brothers to completely privatize the VA Health Care system–is set to take over the Department of Defense. He could likely lead a purge of LGBTQ service members, target women who have been allowed in combat arms jobs, and (as a credibly-accused rapist himself) further hamper the military’s sluggish efforts to tackle the epidemic of sexual assaults.
Additionally, Trump 2.0 has expressed a desire to use US troops to aid in mass deportations or suppress constitutionally-protected protests. With a foreign policy team of warhawks, in particular those wanting direct (and inconceivably-bloody) military confrontation with China, the potential for discontent to rise among the rank-and-file seems inevitable.
Actions by GIs like the Corpsman on January 20th sets the example of the way forward.
If you are a member of the US military and want to know more about your legal rights to get out or to protest, call the GI Rights Hotline for 24/7 private, expert counseling at 1-877-447-4487.
You can also get more information from to A Guide to Getting Out of the US Military Now on the Eyes Left Podcast.
If you’d like to speak out, or need support, contact Mike at theempirefiles@gmail.com.
DISCLAIMER: The comments made by the featured service member are their views alone and do not reflect the Department of Defense or Navy.
Thank you for covering this. I spread the GI Rights Hotline info quite often on social media. We must all stand behind this service member and his honorable actions.
When the White House says that a military action is for “American interests” it has never meant the American people. It’s American corporations and oligarchs.