Military investigating whether service members participated in US Capitol assault
Joint Chiefs issue memo reminding troops they swore to defend the Constitution.
ByLuis Martinez
January 12, 2021, 5:39 PM
• 8 min read
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The military services are looking into whether any active-duty military personnel may have participated in the assault on the U.S. Capitol last week. The stunning events at the Capitol prompted the Joint Chiefs of Staff to issue an internal memo to all service members condemning the riot, confirming that Joe Biden will be the next commander in chief and noting that any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is "against the law."
Fort Bragg officials are reviewing an Army officer's claims that she only participated in the rally prior to the violence at the Capitol building and are also trying to determine if other base personnel joined her as part of a group that came to Washington, said a defense official. The psychological operations officer has acknowledged leading a group of 100 North Carolina residents to the rally.
U.S. military personnel are allowed to participate in political events as long as they do so on their own time and are not in military uniform.
A service member's participation in the rally or march that preceded the assault on the U.S. Capitol would fall into that category. However, the military services will look at whether any military personnel played a role in the security breach at the Capitol building and any of the violent events, which could result in disciplinary action.
Several individuals arrested at the Capitol were veterans who had once served in the military, but an ABC News review of records shows none of them is currently serving in the military.
The violence prompted America's top military leaders to issue an internal memo reminding troops that they are sworn to protect the Constitution and that on on Jan. 20, Biden will become the next commander in chief.
"The violent riot in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Capitol building, and our Constitutional process," said the memo, signed by all the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law," the memo added. "The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection."
"We support and defend the Constitution," it said. "Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law," it continued.
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