Army Imprisions Soldier over Anti-war Song
February 4, 2010
Lloyd Rowsey / OpEd News & Jeff Schogol / Stars and Stripes
The Army's "Stop-Loss" program has been called a "Backdoor Draft" and a form of illegal "enslavement" that forces soldiers to continue to risk their lives after their Army contract has expired and their term of service has ended. Army Specialist Marc Hall is in jail charged with recording a violent rap song that describes shooting those responsible for his stop-loss orders.
http://www.opednews.com/populum/link.php?id=106243
Army Specialist Marc Hall Sits in Jail over a Song/
Lloyd Rowsey / OpEd News/
(February 3, 2010) — After over a month of confinement, Army Specialist Marc Hall still sits incarcerated in the Liberty County Jail near Fort Stewart, GA.
The US Army jailed Hall on December 11, claiming that the lyrics of his hip-hop song, “Stop-loss” amount to the “communication of a threat.” Hall, an Iraq War veteran, recorded the song last summer, expressing his anger over the Army’s Stop-Loss policy, which involuntarily extended his contract for a second Iraq deployment. We believe that Spc. Hall’s right to free speech is being violated with the Army’s actions.
Spc. Hall planned to leave the military at the end of his contract (Feb 2010) to spend more time with his family, but the Army issued a stop-loss order last summer preventing his separation. He recorded the song “Stop-loss” and mailed it directly to the Pentagon sometime in July. Hall claims the Army took little action at first.
In a recent statement Marc said, “My first sergeant called me into his office to discuss the song’s nature. I explained to him that the hardcore rap song was a free expression of how people feel about the Army and its stop-loss policy. I explained that the song was neither a physical threat nor any threat whatsoever. I told him it was just hip-hop.”
Marc goes on to say, “My first sergeant said he actually liked the song and that he did not take it as a threat. He and my commander at the time just recommended me for mental counseling and evaluation.”
Over the next few months Hall continued expressing uncomfortable feelings to his chain of command about his upcoming Iraq deployment. When he returned from two weeks leave on Dec. 7, 2009 he informed his chain of command that he could not in good conscience deploy again to Iraq. Four days later the Army placed him in the Liberty County Jail in Hinesville, GA claiming that hi hip-hop lyrics amounted to the “communication of a threat.”
Jim Klimaski, a Washington DC attorney closely following the case, argues that Hall’s chain of command took excessive action in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings and those actions against Hall violate his first amendment right to free speech.
“[The Army] decided they didn’t want to send him back to Iraq, but didn’t want to admit that they should let go. So they created this situation; I think Hall’s commanders overreacted when they listened to the song and put him in jail. Music is a powerful means of communication but a song is not going to destroy the American military, particularly this song.”
Specialist Hall’s unit deployed to Iraq without him in mid-December. The Army is currently deciding whether it will keep Marc Hall incarcerated until his court martial in five months. As Specialist Hall awaits that decision, the Army continues to implement its stop-loss policy despite President Obama’s promise to end the unfair practice.
According to the Pentagon 120,000 soldiers have been affected by stop-loss since 2001 and 13,000 are currently serving under stop-loss orders.
Army Specialist Jailed for Threats against Fellow Soldiers, Commanders
Jeff Schogol / Stars and Stripes, Mideast Edition
ARLINGTON, Va. (January 7, 2010) — An Army specialist is in jail, accused of making threats against fellow soldiers, including in a vulgar, violent rap song that describes shooting those responsible for his stop-loss orders.
Spc. Marc Hall, an Iraq veteran based at Fort Stewart, Ga., has been in custody since early December. He’s been charged with “conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the armed forces,” allegedly threatening violence on multiple occasions, according to Army charge sheets.
Hall is accused in various specifications of threatening to “go on a rampage,” attack other soldiers if he was deployed, and shoot the brigade and battalion commanders.
Another count accuses him of distributing “original songs wrongfully threatening acts of violence against members of his unit.” Hall reportedly mailed a copy of the song to the Pentagon after receiving his stop-loss orders over the summer. The song, posted on Hall’s personal Web site, does not name anyone specifically.
“[Expletive] you colonels, captains, E-7 and above
You think you so much bigger than I am? ...
I’m gonna round them up all eventually, easily, walk right up peacefully
And surprise them all, yes, yes, y’all, up against the wall, turn around
I got a [expletive] magazine with 30 rounds, on a three-round burst, ready to fire down
Still against the wall, I grab my M-4, spray and watch all the bodies hit the floor
I bet you never stop-loss nobody no more.”
“The chain of command has a legal obligation to the citizens of the United States to investigate and deal fairly with SPC Hall’s alleged misconduct,” Kevin Larson, a spokesman at Fort Stewart, said in an e-mail. “Anything less would be irresponsible to our citizens and soldiers.”
James Klimaski, a Washington-based lawyer, said that Iraq Veterans Against the War, an anti-war group to which Hall belongs, is trying to raise enough money for Hall to hire him as his civilian attorney. While Hall is jailed, his unit has deployed to Iraq without him, according to Klimaski.
Hall’s song is just a song and should not be taken literally, the lawyer said.
“Listen to rap songs,” Klimaski said. “I mean there are a whole bunch of rap songs talking about killing people all the time. Nobody gets killed from them.”
Klimaski also downplayed the allegations that Hall made additional threats.
“The problem with threats is they can’t be contingent,” he said. “ ‘I will do this if ...’ Well that’s not a threat because if ‘if’ doesn’t happen, then there’s no threat. Like, let’s say, ‘I’m going to shoot the battalion commander if I’m deployed.’ Well he’s not been deployed, so he’s not going to shoot the battalion commander, so there’s no threat.”
Klimaski also said the definition of rampage means to run around like a crazy person. “That’s not a threat,” he said.
Hall’s arrest came a little more than a month after Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. Afterward, the military and law enforcement services were criticized for failing to heed what many said were signs that Hasan might commit violence. Among the signs were online postings sympathizing with Muslim suicide bombers and his vocal assertions that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were wars against Islam.
Klimaski added that those who are a true threat typically don’t advertise their intentions.
“Maj. Hasan didn’t run around and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to blow people away at the hospital, or the infirmary today.’ Or the bomber going into Detroit says, ‘Oh, I should tell everyone I’m on this plane and blow the plane up,’” he said.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
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