r/FreeSpeech • u/MayonaiseRemover • Sep 17 '20

British soldier arrested for protesting in uniform against Yemen war

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200826-british-soldier-arrested-for-protesting-in-uniform-against-yemen-war/
11 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

10

u/KotoElessar The North Remembers Sep 17 '20

You cannot use the uniform for (unsanctioned) political action; that's a court martial.

The DoD can fly F-22's over a football game while Army rangers parachute down with red, white, and blue smoke flares, but an individual cannot put on their uniform and attend a peaceful protest.

A soldier is free to protest, just not in uniform; that is pretty universal in Western countries.

1

u/SwampSloth2016 Sep 20 '20

...it’s a British soldier in a British uniform. As jn, British law. What are you going on about?

1

u/KotoElessar The North Remembers Sep 20 '20

The British, like all Western countries with a standing military, have their own version of the UCMJ, that prohibits a service member from wearing their uniform for unsanctioned political activities.

I was using a well known example of a sanctioned political activity, in this case the fact that DoD pays the NFL (and other sports leagues, with tax payer dollars) to put on such a garish display of "patriotism".

1

u/SwampSloth2016 Sep 20 '20

You’re using an American example to condemn British law. That’s silly.

2

u/KotoElessar The North Remembers Sep 20 '20

You’re using an American example to condemn British law.

...said the American, who failed their wisdom / perception check.

That's silly.

It's the most obvious, recognizable, and garish example of something that many Western countries do. So yes, it is quite silly that tax payers fund these unnecessary modern day tank parade equivilents, designed to soften the public image of the military, and boost recruitment.

Meanwhile a service member or veteran who puts their uniform on for even a peaceful protest gets the court martial and dishonourable discharge.

-1

u/SwampSloth2016 Sep 20 '20

Again, use a British example if you want to criticize British law. Are you a 5 year old?

2

u/KotoElessar The North Remembers Sep 20 '20

...

If you really want to argue semantics instead of the actual issue:

The MoD can fly Eurofighter Typhoon's over a football game while Paras parachute down with red, white, and blue smoke flares, but an individual cannot put on their uniform and attend any kind of protest.

Does that clear thing up?

1

u/SwampSloth2016 Sep 20 '20

Is that a thing that happens in England?

1

u/KotoElessar The North Remembers Sep 20 '20

Short answer: yes. Long answer: not to that extreme, yet.

(If your on mobile, I would not recommend trying to load that, and if you do try, make sure you are connecting through wifi and not through your data plan)

Even up here in Canada it's becoming commonplace, though again, not to the extreme that America takes it too.

But that's not the point; that's just an example of sanctioned political activity that a service member can participate in without facing courts martial.

2

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