After more than a year, a former Army National Guard officer and current Army Reservist saw an official reprimand he received from his chain of command for attending a protest during the summer 2020 canceled.
Captain Alan Kennedy, an Army reservist who served in the Colorado Army National Guard when he attended a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020, called the decision a “victory for the First Amendment.”
Kennedy had initially received a General Officer Reprimand Memorandum, or GOMAR, from the Chief of the Colorado Army National Guard for his actions. This action was canceled following a decision by the Department of the Army Suitability Evaluation Board.
The problem began over 18 months ago, on May 30, 2020, when Kennedy – who was off duty at the time as a Colorado National Guard officer – participated in a protest in Denver. . During the protest, Denver police began gassing the crowd. Kennedy later recounted his experiences in an editorial column for the Denver Post. Members of the military are not normally allowed to use their uniform or rank to inform public statements.
The editorial launched an investigation by Col. Charles Beatty, Chief of Staff of the Colorado Army National Guard, to determine whether Kennedy had violated Department of Defense instructions. 1325.06, which prohibits the military, even when off duty, from participating in demonstrations in foreign countries, which violate local laws or where “violence is the likely result”.
The initial investigation, conducted by a Colorado Army National Guard lieutenant colonel according to documents obtained by Task & Purpose, found that Kennedy was not at fault. Since Kennedy was not a National Guard officer either during the protest or when the editorial was published, there were no violations of military regulations.
Shortly after these findings, Beatty quashed the original investigation and issued Kennedy a temporary local reprimand, arguing that Kennedy should have known that “violence was likely to occur” at any protest.
The protests that Kennedy later attended became the subject of a civil court case, Abay v. City of Denver, in which a judge criticized Denver Police for using tear gas and projectiles in responding to protests.
The following month, July 2020, Kennedy published a second editorial recounting his experience. This initiated a second Colorado Army National Guard investigation.
“By publishing the article and identifying yourself as a member of the service, you have violated the regulations and provisions of the Colorado Military Justice Code, and your actions have brought discredit and dishonor on COARNG. It is also clear from the clear language of the article that you intended to do so, and thus to intimidate the command into refraining from lawfully using its power to investigate â€, we read in the statement. reprimand issued by the crossing guard. General Douglas Paul September 11, 2020.
The published GOMAR would have essentially ended Kennedy’s military career, preventing any potential for promotion or advancement through the ranks.
Kennedy then filed a lawsuit, alleging that the military reprimand was a violation of his constitutional rights.
This lawsuit also alleged that “Kennedy’s senior officers felt that Black
Lives Matter protests are “inherently violent,” claiming that all Black Lives Matter protests
“Start peacefully and degenerate into violent clashes with the police”.
The trial also sparked a third investigation into Kennedy, who always confirmed his GOMAR.
“It was clear that I was not representing the views of the military when I wrote these articles,†Kennedy said. “The Colorado National Guard just didn’t like what I wrote.”
Kennedy has since transferred to the Army Reserve, currently serving in Virginia.
Soldiers expressing their opinions in public is not a new issue for the military, but Kennedy’s case comes at a time when the military has increasing visibility in their personal lives, and the divide between soldiers and civilians is increasingly confused by social media.
Earlier this summer, the Marine Corps. Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller saw his career quickly ignite after taking to social media to denounce the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Seven states are now suing the federal government to protest COVID-19 vaccine warrants for their National Guard personnel.
But it has also become a way for the military to call on their leaders. In 2020, a Sergeant First Class at Fort Hood took to TikTok to discuss the toxic leadership conditions in his unit after being pushed back by his chain of command. In 2019, Task & Purpose wrote about a Wisconsin Air National Guard master sergeant who spent years trying to bring attention to allegations of sexual harassment in his unit. For members of the National Guard and the Reserve, who spend only a few days a month in uniform, this dichotomy between service time and civilian life is only reinforced.
“It’s just common sense to me that you don’t lose your constitutional rights just because you take an oath to defend them,†Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, remains pending. This raises a question which – although specific to a social movement in this case – is increasingly relevant to the military.
“Can the government prohibit off-duty, non-uniformed military personnel stationed in the United States from participating peacefully in Black Lives Matter and other peaceful protests if the military’s conduct does not violate law?” law and order? reads the complaint.
In July 2021, the National Guard’s office issued a memorandum declaring that the regulations under which Kennedy was originally punished
Members of the National Guard in a Title 10 duty status under Federal Command and Control. “
Read more on Task and objective
Want to write for the task and the purpose? Click here. Or check out the latest stories on our home page.
