Following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, numerous reports emerged indicating that a significant number of rioters had connections to the U.S. military. The Pentagon, it would seem, has an extremism problem. Steps are being taken to address it, but more far-reaching actions will be necessary.
By MARK SATTER | CQ-Roll Call | Published: May 23, 2021 WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) Christopher Warnagiris became the fifth service member, and the first on active duty, arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 pro-Trump insurrection at the Capitol. The Marine Corps major is charged with a slew of federal offenses after video and photographs showed him violently storming the Capitol, pushing through a line of police officers guarding the East Rotunda doors and using his body to keep the door open and pull others inside. His arrest seemingly adds to the growing body of evidence that extremism is fomenting in the military ranks and, according to some lawmakers, defense officials and experts, needs to be addressed.
Biden Military Purges Critical Race Theory Critic From U.S. Space Force Removed from command for writing book on “Marxist goal of conquest and the unmaking of the U.S. Military.” Wed May 19, 2021 “You keep watch around the world to detect missile launches, space launches, and nuclear detonations while providing critical intelligence. All of you are pioneers in the newest branch of our armed forces.” That was President Donald Trump in a November 26, 2020 video conference with officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force, which was “very special to me, that new branch, because that was something that I felt was necessary.”
Last week, 124 retired generals and admirals signed an open letter denouncing the “hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government” taken by “a Democrat Congress and the Current Administration,” and urging citizens to reverse what they claim to be adopting the right wing’s most prominent conspiracy theory the fraudulent election of 2020.
Was this, as some have argued, a disturbing sign of extremism in the armed forces the kind of act of insubordination, bordering on coup-plotting, that many more moderate or apolitical officers feared during the weeks leading up to President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a concern heightened in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection?