On May 30, Alan Kennedy, a captain in the Colorado National Guard, joined thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters in Denver to speak out against police violence and racial injustice. Like other peaceful protesters, he said, he was tear-gassed by police.
His commander, Maj. Richard Sandrock, said he was concerned Kennedy attended the protest. It was the third day of unrest in which Denver police fired tear gas, pepper balls, flash bangs and sponge bullets at protesters. By attending the protest, Sandrock said, Kennedy violated a Defense Department policy that limits the rights of military members to participate in protests where “violence is likely.” On July 12, Sandrock reprimanded Kennedy.
Kennedy said he was shocked. He said the reprimand blemished his military record and was later used to block his promotion, effectively penalizing him for exercising his First Amendment rights while he was off-duty and not in uniform. Fearful of further punishment, Kennedy stopped protesting and writing op-eds. Citing these concerns, he spent months trying to get his commanders and generals to retract the reprimand.
They didn’t. So he took them to court.
https://coloradonewsline.com/2021/03/17/captain-sues-colorado-national-guards-top-brass-over-first-amendment-right-to-protest/First of all, this is a very inaccurate and lopsided article.
Kennedy is a Major, not a Captain - but whatevs.
The real issue that got this attention-whore in trouble was him appearing on TV to blast President Trump over pulling out of Syria (so much for his protests against government violence). He said he personally served in Syria "beside our Kurdish allies."
Bull-****ing-shit.
He was based in Kuwait and only spent 2 weeks in Syria investigating a FLIPL*, due to some mislabeled containers that were ultimately found; and then his happy ass went back to Kuwait where he investigated yet more FLIPLs. And that's all he ever did during his entire deployment.
And then he went on TV and waved his rank and military service in order to criticize Trump. That is very much a violation of UCMJ, the state code of military justice and numerous DoD policies. So, he got hemmed-up for it.
This is his escape plan.
However, if he is representing himself, I don't give him very good chances. He sucks as an attorney. He's never had a legit legal practice. He's been in academia his entire adult life, going for a doctoral degree in law. He looks like a deer in the headlights when asked basic legal questions, like, "Is the military obligated to refute an affirmative defense put forward by a defendant before finding the defendant guilty?" I've seen him on video, as defense counsel to someone accused of sexual assault, urging the accused to answer incriminating questions.
Pity his students.
* - FLIPL: Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss. Basically, if something is lost, stolen, damaged or whatever, how did it happen, who is responsible, do they owe the government money, and - if so - how much?
