Marine Pleads Guilty After Criticizing Afghanistan Exit in Viral Video: 'This Shows the Emotional Toll'
Facebook Stuart Scheller
A Marine who went viral — and drew mixed reaction from inside and outside the Corps — for his critique of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan pleaded guilty at a court-martial held Thursday after he was charged with six infractions including conduct unbecoming of an officer, disrespect toward superior commissioned officers and willful disobedience.
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller pleaded to all six charges with one of his attorneys, Timothy Parlatore, telling PEOPLE, "Accountability is really what this whole case is about."
"He made a decision to make that video, knowing that he was taking a risk to get that message of accountability out," Parlatore says. "How can you demand accountability if you won't accept accountability for yourself?"
The 40-year-old Scheller's case has drawn national attention in recent weeks, with his opinions becoming a flashpoint in the larger debate over the end of the 20-year war.
Here's what to know.
Scheller's criticism went viral
On Aug. 26, Scheller posted a video to Facebook criticizing military leaders after a suicide bomb attack killed 13 American service members (almost all of them Marines) at an airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital, where the military was safeguarding evacuations.
Wearing his uniform, Scheller identified himself and his rank in the social media video and went on to say that one of the people killed in the attack was "someone I had a personal relationship with."
Speaking to the camera, Scheller said he was making the video "because I have a growing discontent and contempt for my perceived ineptitude at the foreign policy level and I want to specifically ask some questions to some of my senior leaders."
Scheller, who said in the video that he has served in the Marine infantry for 17 years, acknowledged that he had "a lot to lose" by publicly voicing his criticism.
Indeed, according to the military news website Task & Purpose, while his outspokenness was divisive: "Some saw a battalion commander and an infantry officer who was risking his career to voice frustrations over a long-mismanaged and oft-forgotten war. But others saw an officer who broke with established norms by criticizing his chain of command publicly, and in so doing undermined good order and discipline." (According to Task & Purpose, some of Scheller's behavior, including a warning to "bring the whole f------ system down," also raised personal concerns.)
Still, Scheller said in his video it was worth risking his job and his family's stability to voice his concerns.
"People are upset because their senior leaders let them down and none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability and saying, 'We messed this up,' " Scheller argued.
He continued: "I'm not saying we've gotta be in Afghanistan forever but I am saying, Did any of you throw your rank on the table and say, 'Hey it's a bad idea to evacuate Bagram airfield ... before we evacuate everyone.' "
The video has drawn more than one million views since being posted.
Senior Airman Taylor Crul/AP/Shutterstock
He was relieved of his post but continued posting
Scheller was fired from his position as the battalion commander of Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at School of Infantry–East at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, just one day after posting his video.
He acknowledged in a Facebook video posted Aug. 27 that he had been "relieved for cause based on a lack of trust and confidence as of 14:30 today."
"My chain of command is doing exactly what I would do if I were in their shoes," he said.
Still, Scheller continued posting videos and statements critical of the withdrawal.
A spokesman for the Marine Corps Training and Education Command (TECOM) told The Marine Corps Times in a statement: "In a general sense not specific to any case, posting to social media criticizing the chain of command is not the proper manner in which to raise concerns with the chain of command and may, depending upon the circumstances, constitute a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
He was then sent to the brig and charged
A TECOM spokesman told Task & Purpose in late September that Scheller was "in pretrial confinement in the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune pending an Article 32 preliminary hearing."
His father, Stuart Scheller Sr., told the outlet: "They had a gag order on him and asked him not to speak. He did, and they incarcerated him. They don't know what to do with him."
The younger Scheller's attorney confirmed to PEOPLE that he was sent to the brig for pre-trial confinement, while pending a court martial, and stayed there for roughly one week.
His confinement drew backlash in some circles, with a group of more than two dozen GOP lawmakers arguing in a recent letter that it was merely for "messaging, retribution, and convenience."
Parlatore told PEOPLE Scheller was to be formally charged with six violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice at his hearing starting on Thursday.
Senior Airman Taylor Crul/AP/Shutterstock A soldier in Kabul, Afghanistan
The recent weeks have been an "emotional roller coaster"
Scheller's attorney, a military vet himself who served in the U.S. Navy, says the case demonstrates the toll that service can take on a person.
"What you saw [in the videos] was an emotional thought process a lot of veterans are going through right now," Parlatore tells PEOPLE. "The difference is, we're going through it behind closed doors. Intentional or otherwise, he gave a face to the emotional health of veterans."
Scheller, Parlatore adds, has been on something of an "emotional roller coaster" in recent weeks.
"He received some pretty scathing criticism from people he once considered to be mentors; people he thought he could trust turned their back on him. The Marine Corps engaged in somewhat of an information campaign against him," Parlatore says.
He continues: "[Scheller is] taking responsibility, but one of the things this shows is the emotional toll of two decades of combat."
Parlatore goes on to argue that "this whole situation — we're seeing zero accountability from the generals. But when he asks for it, his world falls apart."
He stands by his opinion
While Parlatore tells PEOPLE that Scheller hopes for an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions after pleading guilty, Parlatore also thinks Scheller's argument shouldn't be lost.
"Listen carefully to what happens in court over the next few days," the attorney says. "The Marines will talk a lot about how he violated regulations and the social media policy. Here's what they're not going to say: 'What Stu Scheller said is not true.' "
Parlatore continues: "What he's being charged with is saying the quiet part out loud and giving the generals a window into what the morale is of the men and women serving."
The withdrawal that prompted Scheller's criticism has been sharply defended by the White House and President Joe Biden, who argued that, after two decades, the conflict had cost far more than could be gained by continuing it.
His administration acknowledged being caught off guard by the speed of Afghanistan's collapse but said a withdrawal of this scale would always have been messy.
