Soldier Who Sued Army Facing Threats

[WilliamPitt]

Soldier Who Sued Army Facing Threats
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Friday 21 September 2007

An Army specialist stationed in Iraq said he has been repeatedly threatened by other US soldiers after word spread that he sued the secretary of defense and an Army major this week for allegedly retaliating against the soldier when he convened a meeting of atheists, according to the founder of a military watchdog organization that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the soldier and has been in close contact with him since then.

Jeremy Hall, who is on active duty at Combat Operations Base Speicher, Iraq, sent an urgent email message to Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, whose organization is a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Pentagon. The email said a fellow soldier has threatened to "beat his ass," called him an "atheist ass pirate" and "a faggot" and enlisted a "lynch mob" of other soldiers to intimidate Hall because of the allegations Hall made against the military in a lawsuit Weinstein's foundation and Hall filed Monday in US District Court in Kansas City.

Weinstein said he has been in contact with supporters of his foundation who have reported the posting of messages on military and civilian-based blogs, such as military.com, apparently threatening Hall with "fragging," a term used by the military in which an unpopular soldier could be killed by intentional friendly fire during combat.

"Mikey, I hope I am not a victim of a hate crime while I sleep tonight," Hall wrote in an email to Weinstein Thursday evening. "I do not want to die for my country this way. is threatening to beat my ass and all sorts of things. I may be harmed or worse. I am afraid for my safety. I can't sleep, man.... I just lay in my bunk for two hours and I couldn't sleep."

Messages left for several Pentagon spokespeople Thursday evening - on cell phones and at the Defense Department - were not returned.

More: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092107Z.shtml

Original report: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/091807R.shtml

[Horse with no Name]

1. Pat Tillman was an atheist....

Just saying...

[mmonk]

4. Yep.

Frightening.

[Richard Steele]

5. And an outspoken one.

Yup.

[Horse with no Name]

2. Sorry Will. I killed your post.

Didn't think I was that GREAT of a post killer. :blush:

[WilliamPitt]

7. That was masterful.

;)

:toast:

[Horse with no Name]

10. I'll make you a deal

repost it and I promise not to reply.:)

[Jim Sagle]

19. Maybe this'll help: U RRRRAWWWWWWWWK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;)

[kestrel91316]

3. He seriously needs to watch his back. The christofascists won't

stand for this.

[Richard Steele]

6. K&R

[lateo]

8. Dead Man Walking

Fucking religious nutjobs. He should set up a camera and get these people on film threatening him.

[McCamy Taylor]

9. This country breeds some sorry excuses for Christians. This is just awful!

[Rocknrule]

11. Feel that Christian lurve!!!

[ThomCat]

14. Absolutely! Those poor persecuted Christians are

showing us what real respect and tolerance looks like. How do you think they would feel if we all followed their example. x(

[The Vinyl Ripper]

12. I live in the deep South..

I went 53 years and never had my car vandalized..

I put a Darwin fish on my car and within three months it got keyed four times.

I took the Darwin fish off.

It has now been four years without any vandalism.

Get the picture?

[fenriswolf]

15. funny

i have a couple bumper stickers
"the radical right is niether"
"telling the truth in a time of universal deciet is a revolutionary act"
"not my bush"

and ive had my window shattered twice (nothing stolen)
and have 3 nice dents all footprint size

these were all seperate events and i live in a nice part in a nice town

not only the christians who hate bumper stickers

[Raster]

16. I live in the Seattle area. I have an IMPEACH Bush and Cheney bumpersticker and

a magnetic IMPEACH ribbon. Oh, yeah, and last week I got keyed.

[ThomCat]

13. So what are those freedoms they supposedly fight for?

:(

[Rocknrule]

18. The freedoms to do whatever the fuck they say, of course

:mad:

[provis99]

17. is anyone really surprised by the behavior of Christians anymore?

Try asking Jews how they feel about 2000 years of Christian "love".

[f the letter]

20. What do we have to do to get past this nonsense

Why is atheism so un-american to these people? Those allegations of threatened fragging are especially serious.. the language in the report is pretty watered down though, does this mean they're unsupported?