Alleged racist murder of a US soldier by a group in US Army.

[weemadando]

Eight U.S. Soldiers Charged In Death of Fellow Soldier

A group of eight U.S. soldiers stationed in southern Afghanistan have been charged in connection with the death of a soldier from their own company, the NATO military command in Afghanistan announced early Wednesday. That death was initially considered a suicide.

Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year old infantryman from Chinatown in New York City, was found dead in a guard tower of Combat Outpost Palace from an “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the International Security Force Afghanistan (ISAF) disclosed. When the Defense Department officially announced Chen’s death, on October 4, it did not list the circumstances that cost Chen his life.

But now eight of his fellow soldiers from C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based out of Alaska’s Fort Wainwright, face charges in connection with Chen’s death. Five of those charged are sergeants in the company. One of them is a lieutenant — Chen’s own platoon leader.

The lieutenant, Daniel J. Schwartz, is charged with dereliction of duty. Five others are charged with negligent homicide, in addition to other charges, such as assault consummated by battery (Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel), communicating a threat (Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb), and involuntary manslaughter (Van Bockel, Holcolmb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Spc. Thomas P. Curtis, and Spc. Ryan J. Offutt). None are charged with murder.

The charges were issued against the soldiers on Wednesday. ISAF declined provide further information, “to protect the integrity of any judicial proceedings that may follow,” Spc. Alan Davis, a spokesman, told Danger Room.


Chen’s family does not accept the military’s initial explanation that Chen committed suicide. They claim that the Army told them Chen was “beaten” by his superior officers, and made the video above to publicize Chen’s case. His family and friends, supported by the local chapter of the Organization for Chinese Americans, held a candlelight vigil in lower Manhattan on December 15 demanding an official investigation. Local TV news reported that 400 people attended.

At the rally, speakers suggested Chen was hazed because of his race. One read from a February message they said Chen wrote: “They ask if I’m from China a few times a day… They also call out my name Chen in a goat-like voice sometimes for no reason. … People crack jokes about Chinese people all the time. I’m running out of jokes to come back at them.”

Chen’s congresswoman, Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.), wrote a letter to the Army in November demanding “answers now” about Chen’s death.

The charges in Chen’s death come on the heels of a guilty verdict for the ringleader of the “Kill Team,” a group of rogue soldiers in southern Afghanistan. Those soldiers were charged with murdering Afghans for sport, and assaulting soldiers in their unit who threatened to blow the whistle.

But Chen’s friends and family have drawn a different analogy, comparing Chen to Pat Tillman, the ex-NFL player killed by friendly fire, whose death the Army covered up.

“It is important that a strong signal be sent that this type of banned misconduct has no place in the Army, where people like Pvt Danny Chen are serving our country,” Elizabeth OuYang, president of the New York chapter of the Organization for Chinese Americans, told Danger Room. “To die not from enemy fire but from mistreatment by superiors at his own base is totally unacceptable, uncondonable and must be punished.”

[Zaune]

Bullying a fellow soldier to the point where he turns his rifle on himself is involuntary manslaughter? And I doubt the platoon leader was the only officer guilty of dereliction of duty; I seem to recall the 1st Stryker BCT's name being mentioned in association with a previous round of courts-martial, for mistreatment of prisoners and/or noncombatants I think.

[Eulogy]

Bullying a fellow soldier to the point where he turns his rifle on himself is involuntary manslaughter? And I doubt the platoon leader was the only officer guilty of dereliction of duty; I seem to recall the 1st Stryker BCT's name being mentioned in association with a previous round of courts-martial, for mistreatment of prisoners and/or noncombatants I think.

Bullying fellow troops is a great way to suffer an unfortunate accident in combat, and nobody is too tough to frag (don't believe what fiction shows you). So yeah, unchecked thuggery is detrimental to the unit and the mission.

Schools aren't the only place where evil dickheads need to be slapped down, and the Army is down a man because of it.

[weemadando]

Sorry title should read "alleged" murder.

[Edi]

Sorry title should read "alleged" murder.

It does now.

I'm not that surprised that there would be problems of this sort in the US military in that part of Afghanistan. If the victim had not been an American soldier, we wouldn't even be hearing about this. And it would still probably be under wraps if the dead soldier's family hadn't decided to take it to the media, which forces transparency in order to deflect bad PR (or, more accurately, prevent bad PR from turning worse).

[The Spartan]

Bullying a fellow soldier to the point where he turns his rifle on himself is involuntary manslaughter?

Remember, names of charges often don't necessarily match our preconceptions of what they should be. Involuntary manslaughter just means your actions weren't meant to directly kill someone; as opposed to 2nd degree murder where you meant to kill someone but it wasn't premeditated. For example, a drunk driver who kills someone is typically charged with involuntary manslaughter.

[Patroklos]

I am not seeing any indication of race motivated murder from the article, in fact they don't even mention the races of the those charged. And while bullying someone to depression/suicide is a horrible act, it is certainly NOT murder.

Also, the title is incorrect, nobody is charged with murder. In fact, only five of the eight are charged with anything having to do with the physical incident itself. The rest are just your normal "you should have known" (not saying thats a bogus charge btw) up the chain routine.

So in other words, the OP author needs to put up quite a bit more material to support his title.

[Alkaloid]

I am not seeing any indication of race motivated murder from the article

At the rally, speakers suggested Chen was hazed because of his race. One read from a February message they said Chen wrote: “They ask if I’m from China a few times a day… They also call out my name Chen in a goat-like voice sometimes for no reason. … People crack jokes about Chinese people all the time. I’m running out of jokes to come back at them.”

It's implied. And even if it wasn't racially motivated, he was clearly being mocked on account of his race.

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

Obviously I can't estimate how bad the hazing was but what I can tell you from having been in the cav (virtually identical heteronormimitive white good ole boy type of organization) that this isn't uncommon. It gets annoying getting asked if you're gay or why you don't act black or why you sound like a white boy or if you're mexican or chinese or a durk (see arab, afghani, south asian) but I haven not experienced nor have I known any soldier to have experienced it to the point of committing suicide. There are so many avenues that a person can take to get themselves out of that type of situation. Sure they can end up in courts martial or separation if you don't do it right, but in all honesty they are much better than not existing. To me this would strongly suggest that he was harmed against his will. Especially being a maneuver/combat arms type where jokingly if someone is talking suicide handing them a loaded 9mm and asking them not make it messy would be par the course.

A little reflection does make me think about the asian indoctrination of family and shame. He was first generation immigrant and the thought returning home not having completed the mission as shameful but I seriously doubt it was that bad. Looking at the ranks involved Lt to SST to SGT to SGT to SPC makes me think his entire platoon was complicit.

Unfortunate death regardless. Anyone who wants to serve should without being bullied.