The Marine who says he lifted a baby over the walls of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the evacuation is now under investigation after appearing on stage at a Trump Rally in Georgia.
Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark spoke onstage at a “Save America Rally” in Perry, Georgia this past weekend. When introducing himself, Clark said carrying the baby over the wall was “definitely probably one of the greatest things I’ve done in my entire life”.
Clark’s command told task & Purpose that he was not the Marine shown in the viral video from August 19.
Capt. Kelton Cochran, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit spokesperson, said “The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has initiated a command investigation regarding LCpl Hunter Clark’s attendance at the event last weekend to determine if any DoD policies were violated”.
“Any details pertaining to this incident are not releasable while the investigation is being conducted,” he added.
The Department of Defense prohibits active-duty troops from speaking “before a partisan political gathering, including any gathering that promotes a partisan political party, candidate, or cause”.
When Clark appeared at the rally, he was not in his uniform and did not campaign for anyone. Trump had invited Clark onstage and noted that there were 13 empty seats reserved for the U.S. service members that lost their lives in the attack at the Kabul airport.
The military has increasingly been watching the behavior of service members online and in public. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller posted a video that went viral where he criticized military leadership and demanded they take responsibility for the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Following the video, Scheller was relieved of his command and is now being held at the Brig on Camp Lejeune.