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Judge Issues Stay Against Vaccine Mandate for Navy Seals Seeking Religious Exemption

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A federal judge granted a temporary injunction Monday against a federal vaccine mandate for Navy SEALs, who sued President Biden because they were seeking a religious exemption.

Judge Reed O’Connor, the U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas, issued the stay in response to a lawsuit filed by First Liberty Institute in November on behalf of 35 active-duty SEALs and three reservists seeking a religious exemption, as first reported by Fox News Digital.

“The Navy service members in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect. The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment,” O’Connor wrote in his ruling. “There is no military exclusion from our Constitution.”

The SEALs represented in the lawsuit were all members of various Christian denominations and objected to the vaccine mandate based on “their sincerely held religious beliefs,” claiming the military was violating their constitutional rights.

“We are aware of the injunction and are reviewing it,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. (Read more from “Judge Issues Stay Against Vaccine Mandate for Navy Seals Seeking Religious Exemption” HERE)

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Bureaucrats Tell Unvaxxed Navy Seals They’re ‘Undeployable’

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The U.S. Navy SEALS are trained and taught to be victorious in their missions on behalf of the nation. . .

But then, they’ve never before battled bureaucrats, who now are claiming the service members will be undeployable if they do not take the experimental COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Epoch Times reports R. Davis Younts, a lawyer representing Seals,, confirmed the threat is facing those service members even if they have an exemption to the shot demands.

“What they’ve been told is if they apply for a religious accommodation, they will no longer be deployable,” Younts told the Times. And Timothy Parlatore, whose firm represents a number of SEALs and other service members concerned about the vaccines, said his clients have also been given a similar ultimatum.

Parlatore said some military service members already have been pulled from deployments for refusing the vaccines. (Read more from “Bureaucrats Tell Unvaxxed Navy Seals They’re ‘Undeployable'” HERE)

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SEAL Team Six Rescues American Hostage

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A hostage from the United States was rescued early on Saturday in Nigeria by SEAL Team Six.

While the Pentagon has confirmed the rescue operation, they have not confirmed the name of the hostage. ABC News and Fox News have reported that the rescued man was Philip Wanton, who, according to multiple news outlets, was abducted from his farm in neighboring Niger several days ago. . .

“U.S. forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men,” Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. “This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State. No U.S. military personnel were injured during the operation.” (Read more from “SEAL Team Six Rescues American Hostage” HERE)

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Navy Secretary Who Opposed Trump on Navy SEAL Case FIRED

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The Trump administration fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday for a “lack of candor” in the handling of the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was acquitted of charges earlier this year accusing him of shooting civilians, murdering a captive ISIS terrorist, and threatening Navy SEALs who reported him.

However, Gallagher “was convicted of one charge: bringing discredit to the armed forces by posing for photos with the teenage captive’s dead body,” The New York Times reported. Last Friday, Mr. Trump reversed that demotion, angering Navy officials, including the commander of the SEALs, Rear Adm. Collin Green, who had little choice but to accept the reversal. Nonetheless, they continued with their plans to eject Chief Gallagher from the unit.”

The Times reported that Spencer had threatened to resign over the order from the commander-in-chief, however, Spencer denied that claim in a tweet, writing: “I would like to further state that in no way, shape, or form did I ever threaten to resign. That has been incorrectly reported in the press. I serve at the pleasure of the President.”

Spencer went around the back of Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper in privately talking to White House officials, proposing “that if they did not interfere with proceedings against Gallagher, then Spencer would ensure that Gallagher was able to retire as a Navy SEAL, with his Trident insignia,” The Washington Post reported. . .

The U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement: “After Secretary Esper and Chairman Milley spoke with the Commander in Chief on Friday regarding the case of Gallagher, Secretary Esper learned that Secretary Spencer had previously and privately proposed to the White House – contrary to Spencer’s public position – to restore Gallagher’s rank and allow him to retire with his Trident pin. When recently asked by Secretary Esper, Secretary Spencer confirmed that despite multiple conversations on the Gallagher matter, Secretary Esper was never informed by Secretary Spencer of his private proposal.” (Read more from “Navy Secretary Who Opposed Trump on Navy SEAL Case Fired” HERE)

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Navy Pauses Eddie Gallagher Review That Could Lead to Loss of SEAL Trident

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The Navy has paused a review to determine whether to remove SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s Trident pin following his highly publicized war crimes case. President Trump demanded the halt on Thursday.

In an early-morning tweet, Trump wrote: “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!”

. . .A defense official told Fox News that following Trump’s tweet, “there is a pause in the proceedings while we await further guidance” on whether or not Gallagher will remain in Navy Special Warfare.

The head of Naval Special Warfare Command, Rear Adm. Collin Green, was scheduled to review the possibility of stripping Gallagher of the pin, upholding a part of his sentence that would reduce his rank. Gallagher was found guilty in July of posing with the body of a dead ISIS fighter in Iraq, though a directive signed by Trump last week that ordered the Navy to restore Gallagher’s rank to chief petty officer.

Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, a top Navy spokesman, told Fox News that the Navy would be halting the review. (Read more from “Navy Pauses Eddie Gallagher Review That Could Lead to Loss of SEAL Trident” HERE)

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Did the Navy’s Top SEAL Show Contempt for Trump?

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His pay grade restored by President Donald J. Trump on Friday, Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher has filed an inspector general’s complaint against the Navy’s top SEAL, accusing him of uttering contemptuous statements about the commander in chief.

In the works for four months, the move came hours before a Wednesday morning meeting with Naval Special Warfare superiors in California, who are expected to inform Gallagher that Naval Special Warfare commander Rear Adm. Collin Green has convened a Trident Review Board on Dec. 2 to take the coveted SEAL qualification pin away from the special operator.

Green seems to have mustered the support of his uniformed chain of command to administratively punish Gallagher, 40, even if it’s perceived as defiant to the White House. . .

Based on the documents provided to Navy Times, it remains unclear what, if any, comments were made by Green about the president. But a potential showdown between Trump and Green, his fellow admirals and their civilian overseer, Spencer, could set a bad precedent in civil-military affairs, Gallagher’s legal team said.

“The president has spoken on the punishment of Eddie Gallagher,” said the SEAL’s civilian attorney, Timothy Parlatore, a former surface warfare officer. “A two-star admiral should not be stepping in to substitute the judgment of his commander in chief. “This is a terrible precedent to send and the commander in chief should take swift and decisive action against Rear Adm. Green. (Read more from “Did the Navy’s Top SEAL Show Contempt for Trump?” HERE)

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SEAL Team 6 Member Charged With Impersonating People to Get Nude Pics

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A Navy SEAL Team 6 member who was named Sailor of the Year in 2016 has been charged with impersonating other people via text to get nude pictures of women, according to a report.

Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron Howard faces a general court-martial for the allegations, The Virginian-Pilot reported Friday, citing charge documents.

Howard’s civil defense attorney, Michael Waddington, told the paper that the Navy did not find the alleged photos on Howard’s phone. . .

On Wednesday, a Navy SEAL platoon from San Diego was ordered back to the U.S. from Iraq for the members’ refusal to cooperate with an investigation into alleged sexual assault and reports of drinking alcohol while deployed.

And earlier this month, a weekslong trial concluded for Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who had been charged with murder and attempted murder in the killing of a teenage ISIS member in Iraq. (A jury eventually found Gallagher not guilty.) (Read more from “SEAL Team 6 Member Charged With Impersonating People to Get Nude Pics” HERE)

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Jury Finds Eddie Gallagher Not Guilty of Killing ISIS Terrorist

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By Associate Press. A decorated Navy SEAL was found not guilty of murder and attempted murder Tuesday by a military jury in San Diego.

Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, 40, was accused of fatally stabbing a young wounded ISIS fighter, posing for a picture with the corpse and shooting two civilians from a sniper’s perch in Iraq in 2017.

Gallagher was found guilty on the charge involving the photo with the corpse. (Read more from “Jury Finds Eddie Gallagher Not Guilty of Killing ISIS Terrorist” HERE)

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SEAL War Crimes Suspect Not Guilty on Murder Charge

By Navy Times. Nine months after he was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and a string of other alleged war crimes tied to a 2017 deployment in Iraq, Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher walked out of a Naval Base San Diego courtroom, guilty only of appearing in an inappropriate photograph.

Military prosecutors had accused Gallagher, 40, of stabbing to death a seriously wounded Islamic State prisoner of war on May 3, 2017 in a SEAL compound near Mosul, but a military panel composed mostly of combat-tested Marine officers disagreed and found for the chief.

Several junior petty officers in Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7 also alleged that he had shot at least two civilians from a sniper perch and later tried to cover up his actions, but the jurors tossed those charges, too. . .

Wearing broad smiles, Gallagher’s legal team led by Timothy Parlatore and Marc L. Mukasey emerged from the courthouse shortly after Navy Times learned of the verdict and announced their victory.

“The jury found him not guilty of the murder, not guilty of the stabbing, not guilty of the shootings, not guilty of all those things,” said Parlatore. “They did find him guilty of taking a photograph with a dead terrorist, which we admitted from the beginning he was in that photograph.” (Read more from “Seal War Crimes Suspect Not Guilty on Murder Charge” HERE)

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Dan Crenshaw Remembers His Fallen Brothers in Powerful Tribute

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Every Memorial Day millions of Americans take time to remember those who have fallen in service to country — but for some, like Republican Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw, it’s personal.

Crenshaw, a retired Lieutenant Commander and Navy SEAL, marked the day by sharing a series of photos memorializing his own brothers-in-arms — each of whom willingly paid the ultimate price for their friends, their families and millions of complete strangers.

(Read more from “Dan Crenshaw Remembers His Fallen Brothers in Powerful Tribute” HERE)

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Military Judges’ Dual Rulings Cripple Cases Against Navy SEALS Accused of War Crimes

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A Navy SEAL who allegedly staged a re-enlistment ceremony over the body of a dead Islamic State prisoner during the Battle of Mosul in Iraq and also hovered a drone over the corpse may have acted in “poor taste” but didn’t commit a war crime, a Navy judge has ruled.

On Friday, two military judges delivered a pair of big wins for two Navy SEALs on trial for alleged war crimes by tossing out key charges against the special operator at the center of the case, Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward “Eddie” Gallagher, and the officer in charge of his platoon, Lt. Jacob X. “Jake” Portier, who stands accused of covering up the incidents. . .

Military prosecutors charged Portier with lying to his superior officer, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Breisch, about whether he saw “anything criminal” at Gallagher’s reenlistment ceremony. Portier allegedly said: “There was nothing criminal. It was just in poor taste,” according to investigative files obtained by Navy Times. . .

The origin of the sprawling war crimes investigation is murky, but appears to have started with allegations lodged by a special warfare operator first class — an SO1. . .

The way the SO1 recollected events — and reported them to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents — the seeds of the scandal began to grow in Iraq in 2017, when he and others from SEAL Team 7’s Platoon Alpha voiced concerns about Gallagher’s conduct, according to an NCIS “investigative action” provided to Navy Times. (Read more from “Military Judges’ Dual Rulings Cripple Cases Against Navy SEALS Accused of War Crimes” HERE)

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