Group of veterans made video asking members of US military to defy ‘illegal orders’
The 90-second video was first posted early on Tuesday from senator Elissa Slotkin’s X account. In it, the six lawmakers – Ms Slotkin, Arizona senator Mark Kelly, and representatives Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan – speak directly to US service members, whom Ms Slotkin acknowledges are “under enormous stress and pressure right now”.
“The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our constitution,” Ms Slotkin wrote in the X post.
Mr Trump yesterday reposted messages from others about the video, amplifying it with his own words.
It marked another flashpoint in the political rhetoric that at times has been thematic in his administrations, as well as among some in his MAGA base.
Some Democrats accused him of acting like a king and trying to distract from other news, including the soon-to-be-released of files about disgraced financier and sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
With pieces of dialogue spliced together from different members, the lawmakers introduce themselves and their background.
They go on to say the Trump administration “is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens”. They call for service members to “refuse illegal orders” and “stand up for our laws”.
The lawmakers conclude the video by encouraging service members, “Don’t give up the ship,” a War of 1812-era phrase attributed to a US navy captain’s dying command to his crew.
Although the lawmakers didn’t mention specific circumstances in the video, its release comes as the Trump administration continues attempts at deployment of National Guard troops into US cities for various roles, although some have been pulled back and others held up in court.
Troops, especially uniformed commanders, have a specific obligation to reject an order that is unlawful, if they make that determination.
However, while commanders have military lawyers on their staffs to consult with in helping make such a determination, rank-and-file troops who are tasked with carrying out those orders are rarely in a similar position.
Broad legal precedence holds that just following orders, colloquially known as the “Nuremberg defence” as it was used unsuccessfully by senior Nazi officials to justify their actions under Adolf Hitler, doesn’t absolve troops.
However, the US military legal code, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice or UCMJ, will punish troops for failing to follow an order should it turn out to be lawful. Troops can be criminally charged with Article 90 of the UCMJ, wilfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and Article 92, failure to obey an order.
Yesterday, Mr Trump reposted to social media an article about the video, adding his own commentary that it was “really bad and dangerous to our country”.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!!” Mr Trump went on. “LOCK THEM UP???”
He also called for the lawmakers’ arrest and trial, adding in a separate post that it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH”.
Illegal orders can and should be refused. This is not a political opinion
The Steady State, which describes itself as “a network of 300+ national and homeland security experts standing for strong and principled policy, rule of law, and democracy,” wrote in a Substack post yesterday that the lawmakers’ call was “only a restatement of what every officer and enlisted service member already knows: illegal orders can and should be refused. This is not a political opinion. It is doctrine”.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell challenged the theory that illegal orders were being issued.
“Our military follows orders, and our civilians give legal orders,” Mr Parnell said. “We love the constitution. These politicians are out of their minds.”
House speaker Mike Johnson defended Mr Trump’s comments, saying he simply defined what crime they committed.
“What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” he told The Independent. “But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that. What I’m saying, what I will say unequivocally, that was a wildly inappropriate thing for so-called leaders in Congress to do to encourage young troops to disobey orders.”
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries defended members of his caucus for their words.
“We unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting and dangerous threats against members of Congress and call on House Republicans to forcefully do the same,” Mr Jeffries said.
Mr Jeffries said Democrats had been in contact with the House sergeant at arms and US Capitol Police about the safety of members.