WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, the Marine who was sent to the brig and is currently facing multiple charges after openly criticizing the military leaders responsible for the botched pullout from Afghanistan in a now-viral video, was defended by his parents during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
In August, Scheller – a 17-year veteran – posted a video that was highly critical of military leadership after a suicide bombing in Kabul left 13 American service members dead. Scheller demanded that those responsible for the pullout take responsibility for their mistakes, noting that one of the deceased in the attack was a close friend of his.
“People are upset because their senior leaders let them down and none of them are raising their hands and accepting responsibility and saying we messed this up,” Scheller said in the video. “Potentially all those people did die in vain if we don’t have senior leaders who own up and raise their hand and say we did not do this well in the end.”
However, during an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this week, Scheller’s parents – Stu Scheller Sr. and Cathy Scheller – expressed anger for the military’s decision to punish their son, with Stu saying that his only crime was ”speaking truth to power, and power couldn’t handle it.”
“And I said last night on a program, Tucker, his crime was speaking truth to power, and power couldn’t handle it,” he said. “I also said that while he broke chain of command, Austin, Milley, McKenzie, they broke the chain of trust and confidence in the American people. We’re mad, we’re mad as hell. And I’m asking the American people to find your voice. Stand up, demand accountability of your Congress people. Ask for Lieutenant Scheller to be freed.”
“In my opinion, of course, I’m dad, so it’s probably not fair, but I think he should receive his pension after 17 years of fighting for this country,” Stu added. “I think he and his family should have their health benefits and VA benefits for the rest of their lives for the sacrifices he’s made.”
Scheller is reportedly facing potential charges of conduct unbecoming of an officer, contempt toward officials, disobeying a senior officer and failure to obey an order or regulation, and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Thursday.
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