Massachusetts School of Law explored violent crime in the military with Jennifer Norris, Military Justice for All, and the impact it has on civilians too. Jennifer talked about her experiences with four different perpetrators within the first two years of her enlisted career, the reporting & adjudication process, and the retaliation that ensued and eventually ended a fifteen year career. Also discussed was the jurisdictional hurdles that arise with a transient population like the military. For example, Jennifer was not able to press charges against one perpetrator because he moved out of state after learning he was getting reported. Another perpetrator was active duty Air Force at Keesler Air Force Base, therefore a state National Guard commander did not have jurisdiction of a federal employee. And finally, although Jennifer was able to move forward with two other cases involving high ranking National Guard members with over eighteen years of service, unlike the civilian world, after the cases were adjudicated, they retired with full military retirement benefits and no public records.
Jennifer also shared that although the Department of Defense downplays violent crime in the military and sexual assault appears to be closely monitored by some female members of Congress, everything is not under control. The crime appears to be escalating. The military doesn’t just have a sexual assault issue, they have a domestic violence and homicide issue as well. They also have a pattern of ruling soldier’s deaths both stateside and overseas as suicides, training accidents, and illness despite families strongly protesting and evidence revealing otherwise. Domestic violence is more likely to lead to homicide and unfortunately the two issues have not been given the attention they deserve because until you do the research yourself and see how many families and communities have been impacted by the crimes, suspicious death, and homicide of a soldier or civilian, you wouldn’t know because Congress and the main stream media do not give it the attention it deserves. Homicide and independent investigations of all suspicious deaths should be given the highest priority not only because people have lost their lives and families deserve answers but because someone needs to be held accountable. We must prevent others from becoming victims of these crimes too.
Jennifer discussed the lasting impacts the crimes and retaliation had on her. Jennifer was empowered after doing all that she could do to protect others from getting harmed by the same people, but her squadron did not see it the same way. After the cases were adjudicated, Jennifer faced hostility from a couple of the perpetrator’s friends and her Chain of Command once she returned back to work. She eventually had to transfer to another squadron. It was the professional and personal retaliation that made her start feeling more intense feelings of anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. And unfortunately her next squadron wasn’t any more welcoming then the last. She was told shortly after arriving that ‘no female makes it in the satellite communications work center’ and that she was experiencing hostility from her new Chain of Command because the old squadron called and informed them she was a ‘troublemaker.’ The retaliation had a direct impact on her mental health and cemented an already traumatizing experience with further abuse, indifference, and judgement. By the time she got to her third squadron (almost ten years after the first attack), she learned that the Department of Veterans Affairs treated Post Traumatic Stress resulting from military sexual trauma.
After Jennifer informed her third squadron that she was getting help for the PTS at the Department of Veterans Affairs, she was immediately red flagged and asked to leave the squadron until she could produce a note from her doctor giving her permission to be at work. She did this and jumped through the other hoops asked of her in an attempt to save her career but lost confidentiality in the process. Jennifer walked away from her career in the end because she refused to release her VA records for a security clearance investigation. The entire experience not only opened her up to judgement again (simply because she asked for some counseling due to what someone else did) but she had to prove that she was ‘fit for duty’ while the perpetrators were enjoying full military retirement benefits. Jennifer chose a second chance at a civilian career when she refused to release her confidential VA records for her security clearance investigation because she wanted to ensure a future free of a tainted security clearance. It makes zero sense that someone who is a victim of crime be negatively impacted by the crimes of others in yet another way. The hypocrisy of the system is truly revealed when you look at how the perpetrators were let off the hook but the victim of crime loses their military career because they had the strength to first report and then eventually ask for help.
Pvt. Dakota Stump, 19, US Army, went missing from Fort Hood, Texas on October 10, 2016. The family confirmed Dakota was found dead on November 3rd, 2016 on the base. Military officials said Stump’s remains were found next to his flipped-over vehicle 100 yards from the roadway on Fort Hood. An investigator told Dakota’s mother Patrice Wise that his car had rolled multiple times and he was ejected but the crash scene wasn’t visible from the road. Patrice claimed Army officials said they searched the area but because his phone pinged off a cell phone tower in Indiana they thought he was Absent Without Leave (AWOL). Patrice’s response: ‘He was laying in the woods, and nobody would go look.’ Patrice has since started a petition to pass Dakota’s Law which would create a ‘Warrior Alert’ when soldiers go missing. Learn more here:
We need to change Standard Operating Procedures on how Law Enforcement and Military handle situations when our Veterans and Active Duty Members go missing. Which will in turn allow not only Law Enforcement and Military Officials the tools to better locate these individuals, but will help the families and any veterans organizations to assist as well. –Dakota’s Law Petition
U.S. House of Representatives
United States Senate
Washington, DC
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a letter of support for Save Our Heroes. We recognized immediately that Save Our Heroes and victims of crimes both want similar changes in the military justice system. Save Our Heroes is asking for three specific legislative/policy changes to restore fundamental fairness in the military justice system:
1. Remove all Commanders authority from decision-making in the legal system.
2. The number of panel members should be increased to 12 for General Courts Martial.
3. Any conviction at Courts Martial shall require a unanimous verdict.
These requests by Save Our Heroes are similar to the overall changes that victims of crimes in the military have lobbied for, specifically that Commanders be removed from the reporting and decision-making process because of fear of bias, lack of investigative training, and the power to discharge and/or punish with the stroke of a pen. Save Our Heroes is requesting the same changes because ultimately both the victims and accused are looking for a military justice system that mirrors the civilian justice system while respecting the need of the Commanding Officer to ensure discipline is maintained within their command. We want a justice system where crimes are reported to legal authorities and not a Commander who is an authority figure with the power to impact your entire life. We want a justice system where crimes will be investigated thoroughly by unbiased military criminal investigative organizations looking for the truth. We want a justice system that provides the same constitutional rights as those provided in the civilian justice system. Save Our Heroes is specifically asking for changes that are commonplace in the civilian justice system, like a jury of twelve of our peers and a unanimous verdict. Our military deserves no less.
Victims of crimes in the military are asking for a military justice system that provides due process for the accuser and the accused. Crime victims want the ability to go to trial based on an independent prosecutor’s decision to charge because there was sufficient evidence to move forward with a case. Crime victims want those people who level false accusations, and engage in other abuses of the process, to be held accountable. While we recognize that false reports represent a small percentage of total reports (between 2-8 percent based on Bureau of Justice Statistics data), those who do falsely accuse are hurting the real victims of these crimes and should be held accountable through the same impartial military justice system. Both the accusers and the accused are asking for due process, which is best accomplished by a system that mirrors the civilian justice system. Currently, Commanders have control of the process when the accused, accuser, defense attorneys, and prosecutors should have control over the process.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Norris, Military Justice for All
Stephanie Schroeder, US Human Rights Network & UN Board Member
Brian Lewis, Men Recovering from Military Sexual Trauma
Hillary Clinton picked Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her Vice Presidential running mate. What is interesting about this pick is at one point in a Time magazine article in 2014, Clinton showed public support of the Military Justice Improvement Act, yet she chooses Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) as her vice presidential running mate who has been blocking the bill since 2013. Of course Senator Angus King (I-ME) endorses this choice since he too has been blocking the due process bill sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Ted Cruz, and many other bi-partisan Senators advocating for constitutional rights for military personnel and veterans.
“The move was surprising in that it means that if she becomes President, the normally hawkish Clinton would go against the advice of military brass and remove the cases from the chain of command. It also must have had a little bit of a silver lining dig at McCaskill, who endorsed Barack Obama over Clinton in 2008.” ~Time (2014)
Army Reserve veteran Micah Johnson was accused of gunning down and murdering five Dallas police officers during a Black Lives Matter Event on July 7, 2016. This is considered one of the deadliest attacks on police officers since September 11, 2001. He was eventually killed in a stand off with police. In recent media reports we learned that Micah Johnson deployed to Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014. He was accused of sexual harassment while deployed to Afghanistan in May 2014. He was accused of stalking and stealing women’s underwear as well. The victim sought a protection order and told superiors he needed mental health treatment. The protection order was granted and the Commanding officer recommended an Other Than Honorable discharge and sent him home early from his deployment to Afghanistan. Johnson’s military attorney stated that this kind of punishment is unusual for an isolated incident of sexual harassment. As part of a tentative agreement, it was recommended that Johnson receive a general discharge which saves the Army time and resources needed to discharge soldiers under Other Than Honorable conditions. Instead he was eventually released from the Army with a honorable discharge in April 2015.
As a result of his actions while serving, he was not investigated and prosecuted but instead sent back home from overseas and discharged from the US Army Reserves honorably. Although we have limited information in which to base conclusions, at first glance this looks like a case of escalation of predatory behavior that starts with sexual harassment, progresses to stalking, then the individual gets brazen and starts breaking and entering to steal his victims belongings. It would only be a matter of time before the individual escalated to sexual assault, rape and then murder. It’s too early to make a definitive conclusion as we are still waiting for information to come in because this story is developing. But one thing we do know is that the US Army Reserves took the easy way out, booted Micah Johnson from the military to protect it’s service members, and unleashed him on society with no warning or records. This case is another reason why we need the military to investigate and process each and every case through the legal system so we at least have a fighting chance at prevention and escalation of crimes. If the military can’t handle or afford to investigate and prosecute each case to determine the soldier’s danger to society, then maybe they should hand over the investigation and prosecution of crimes to the civilians. This isn’t the first case they let slip through the cracks and it certainly won’t be the last.
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Why wasn’t the deaths of five Dallas Police Officers enough to warrant an investigation of the way the Army handles crime? Instead the conversation was stifled in the media. The following is a list of questions sent to the Army Times and other media outlets to help them help us find answers.
• What were his behaviors prior to being reported?
• What evidence did the Commander have to grant a protection order?
• Why was the protection order for her home as well?
• Why was he sent back home from Afghanistan?
• Why did the deployed Commander recommend sexual harassment with other than honorable discharge?
• Does the Commander understand the difference between sexual harassment and escalation of a violent criminal? (sex harassment, stalking, stealing victims belongings, sexual assault, rape, murder)
• Did the deployed Commander do any follow up with Army or Army Reserves?
• Where was he sent after leaving Afghanistan?
• Did he process through Fort Hood and was anyone informed of his status?
• Why and when was he assigned an attorney? (usually not necessary for sex harassment)
• Why no follow up on what happened in Afghanistan?
• Why no punishment whatsoever for sex harassment charge, protection order?
• Why no investigation of circumstances to determine if this individual was a danger to fellow soldiers in the US?
• Why no investigation of circumstances to determine if this individual was a danger to society?
• Why only a recommendation for other than honorable discharge?
• Why no concern that this individual may harm others in the community?
• Why no concern for records and informing local community of potential danger?
• Why did Micah Johnson end up getting discharged with a honorable discharge?
• Why is media reporting that the attorney and victim cannot speak to the media?
• Do you have the money to process soldiers through the legal system?
• If you don’t have the money, why not refer the case to the civilian authorities to help you determine if this person is a danger to society?
• Why no follow up with local police after victim got a military protection order?
• Where did the victim live? On base? Off base? Was protection order coordinated between deployed commander and commander in the states?
• Where did Micah Johnson live? On base? Were others informed of the protection order and reasons why?
• Why did it take so long to discharge Micah Johnson from the military after he was sent home from Afghanistan?
• Did he continue to go to work until he was discharged?
• Did he have any other victims or accusations while serving?
• Do you keep records of reports of sex crimes if the allegation cannot be substantiated because it’s a “he said, she said” crime?
• What triggers an investigation by CID? Where are they located?
• Do you investigate if the crime is considered sex harassment?
• Why sex harassment when stalking, stealing panties, protection order, and early return home from Afghanistan?
In the News:
Micah Johnson, the suspect who shot and killed five Dallas police officers, was killed by a police robot with a bomb attached. CBS News transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave joins CBSN to discuss a new use for the technology. -CBS News (July 8, 2016)
Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, has been identified as one of the suspected gunmen in an ambush Thursday that left five Dallas law enforcement officers dead and seven more officers injured, according to multiple law enforcement sources. -ABC News (July 8, 2016)
Dallas Sniper Micah Xavier Johnson Was Ex-Army Reservist. -ABC News (July 8, 2016)
The gunman who killed five police officers and wounded seven others Thursday night before being killed in a standoff with cops in Dallas has been identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, according to reports. Johnson, 25, was killed in a parking garage at El Centro College after opening fire as demonstrators with the Black Lives Matter movement protested police’s treatment of blacks in America, according to reports. Johnson claimed to be an army vet. -Inside Edition (July 8, 2016)
Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, was killed by robot-detonated bomb after lengthy negotiations. -CBC News (July 8, 2016)
The first family member of the gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas is speaking out. Nicole Johnson, sister of Micah Xavier Johnson, took her shock to Facebook writing, ‘I keep saying it’s not true.’ She has deleted the post and but added another saying the media will show one image of her sibling, while those who knew him will keep another. Her 25-year-old brother shot the officers during a peaceful protest in response to the recent killings of two black men by police. -Inside Edition (July 8, 2016)
Micah Johnson ambushed police during a protest in downtown Dallas Thursday, killing five officers and wounding nine others. We are finding out more about the gunman’s planning and what police found in his home. -CBS This Morning (July 9, 2016)
Five officers were killed and nine others wounded during a protest Thursday, when a gunman targeted them following the deadly shootings of two black men at the hands of police officers this week. Investigators say Micah Johnson, an Afghan war veteran, was amassing an arsenal at his home outside Dallas. His tour of duty ended in 2014 when he was sent back to the U.S. after a female soldier accused him of sexual harassment. Manuel Bojorquez reports. -CBS This Morning (July 9, 2016)
ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Pierre Thomas report the latest news in the deadly sniper attack in Texas. -ABC News (July 9, 2016)
Police said a robot was used to kill Micah Xavier Johnson, the ex-Army reservist suspected of opening fire during a police shooting rally. -ABC News (July 9, 2016)
The parents of Dallas gunman Micah Johnson have spoken out for the first time since their son’s attack on police Thursday night. Speaking to The Blaze, Johnson’s father, James Johnson and his ex-wife, Delphine broke down in tears as they discussed their veteran son’s devastating actions during a protest march. “I love my son with all my heart. I hate what he did,” James said. The astonished father added: “I don’t know what to say to anybody to make anything better. I didn’t see it coming.” -Inside Edition (July 11, 2016)
Jake Hunt said he couldn’t go a day without Micah Johnson “making you laugh at least twice a day.” -ABC News (July 11, 2016)
As the investigations continue into the three police-involved shootings within three days, CNN speaks to a man who claims to have sold a military-style rifle to Micah Johnson, the Dallas sniper attack suspect. -CNN (July 12, 2016)
CBS News’ Manuel Bojorquez discusses the interview with Dallas shooter Micah Johnson’s parents. Bojorquez is in Dallas, where President Obama and George W. Bush will speak at a memorial today. -CBS News (July 12, 2016)
Thousands of people have attended a candlelight vigil outside the Dallas Police Department to honour the five officers shot dead during a protest over the killings of two black men. Micah Johnson killed Lorne Aherns, 48; Michael Krol, 40; Brent Thompson, 43; Mike Smith, 55; and Hispanic officer Patrick Zamarripa, 32. -Euronews (July 12, 2016)
As the funerals for the slain Dallas police officers continue, the investigation into the background and motive of Dallas shooter, Micah Johnson, continues. The US Army has opened an investigation into Johnson’s military service. Johnson reportedly spent six years in the Army Reserves and was accused of sexual harassment while serving. RT America’s Manuel Rapalo reports from Dallas, where police are also investigating claims that Johnson purchased an AK-47 off of Facebook for $600 before the shooting. -RT America (July 14, 2016)
On July 7, 2016, Micah Johnson killed five police officers and injured nine others. This 3d animation shows what we know about the path of his deadly ambush through downtown Dallas at the end of a peaceful march to protest police shootings of black men around the country. -The Dallas Morning News (July 31, 2016)
Army Pfc. Zachery Nathaniel Fuller, 23, whose home of record is listed as Palmetto, Florida, entered active-duty military service in November 2015 as a motor transport operator and was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas since April 2016. Fuller’s awards and decorations include a National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
Learn more from III Corps and Fort Hood Facebook page here.
Mr. Speaker, Texas has been hammered by historic torrential rain and flooding. As the Texas floodwaters rose, 12 soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas, were crossing Owl Creek in a 21⁄2-ton Light Medium Tactical Vehicle when it became stuck in the Owl Creek low water crossing.
Suddenly, the vehicle was swept over and sent downstream by fast-moving water. Nine American soldiers drowned in the massive flood waters. Today, we remember them, and here they are: Staff Sergeant Miguel Colon Vazquez, 38, from New York.
The soldiers were members of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division. These American soldiers were volunteers who swore to protect the United States.
They were a cut above the rest and were ready to defend freedom at home and abroad. Their lives were ripped from this world and their families all too soon. We are grateful for them and their families for their service and their sacrifices.
These soldiers are the best of America. Our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers and their families, who have been devastated by the floods of Texas this spring.
If someone reports a crime to a police department, even if the person is not prosecuted, there is still a record of the complaint. This is not happening in the military because the Commander does not have access to law enforcement databases. So if the person was accused before in the military, the Commander has no way of knowing. And they are not entering data into the system if they are informed of a complaint. We are losing valuable data if the person is not prosecuted for the crime. The military currently prosecutes less then 10% of complaints.
If information was processed like in the civilian world, we quite possibly could prevent a rape or sexual assault. It could help establish a pattern even if one of the cases didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute. If the military had multiple complaints against one person then they would have a better chance at prosecution.
