CNN reported that Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier, in regard to the Air Force member, said that he had requested that senior military leaders "read the member his rights, and place him and his entire chain of command under investigation." a statement by Lohmeier read, "What I have seen is, at a minimum, a violation of Article 134 of the UCMJ. … Men and women who are guilty of this kind of behavior will not serve in uniform."
It should be noted that while the
Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) limits what troops can say publicly — specifically about negative comments regarding the president and U.S. officials — service members are still entitled to their First Amendment rights under the Constitution.
“You can’t just prosecute people on a whim without some sort of notice that what they would be doing would be considered criminal," Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel who previously served as a military judge and the Air Force’s chief prosecutor, said. “What I think is the most absurd thing I’ve heard is that this is a violation of our oath."
"There is nothing in the oath we take when we become service members that would in any way would ever say you’re violating your oath because you don’t like Charlie Kirk and think he should have died," he added. "That’s an absurdity."
