STATEMENT: Protect Our Defenders Responds to Wilkerson Whine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2013 Contact: Brian Purchia, (202) 253-(202) 253-4330, brian@protectourdefenders.com
*** STATEMENT ***
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS RESPONDS TO WILKERSON WHINE THAT “POLITICS” IS TO BLAME FOR HIS RETIREMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, Lt Col James Wilkerson who was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a civilian contractor at Aviano Air Base claimed that he was being forced to retire because of politics in a statement to the Air Force Times.
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish released the following statement in response:
“Lt Col Wilkerson’s actions have forever changed the lives of the victim and her family. He has brought disgrace to the uniform and our nation. Our military ‘justice’ system is to blame for why he is a free man, not politics.
Wilkerson’s argument that politics was the reason he was forced to retire with a reduction in rank is patently absurd. How can he argue that fathering a child during an adulterous affair is not conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman?
This was compounded by, what was an obvious lie to Lt Gen Franklin in an effort to save his promotion and return to flying, after Franklin took the indefensible step to set aside Wilkerson’s conviction of sexual assault. Just before the mother of his child disclosed their affair he sent Franklin, through a senior officer the following message: ‘He [Wilkerson] also wanted me to convey to you his promise that there is no adverse information to his knowledge outside the charges brought against him in the court.’ – Email from Commander, 31 Operations Group, Aviano AFB [name redacted], to Gen Franklin, with copies to Gen Zobrist and Wilkerson.
Wilkerson had the option and chose to not attempt to show cause for why he should remain in the military. By electing instead to retire, he avoided the risk, based on a history of documented transgressions, of dismissal and a greater reduction in rank.
Wilkerson’s whine rings hollow, when one considers that, without his fellow F16 pilot, Franklin’s clearly biased and illogical action to overturn his conviction by a jury of five colonels, Wilkerson would now be in jail serving his sentence and on his way out to a life on a civilian sex offender registry. Franklin’s argument was based in part on his view of Wilkerson’s ‘character,’ in his words that he was a ‘doting father and husband.’ See a comparison of Franklin’s 18-point explanation to the evidence, as recorded in the trial.
Wilkerson argues that the discourse about how or even whether to reform the military justice system should be left out of the newspaper and public forums. Not only does his lecture ring hollow, he clearly does not understand that American citizens and their elected representatives have not only the right, but the responsibility to speak out and call for reform of what is an obviously broken, biased, corrupt, and ineffective system. Without his victim and other survivors coming forward along with public involvement there would be no fundamental reform and the epidemic of sexual assault in our military would continue unabated.
If Franklin’s decision alone were not enough to engender reform, Wilkerson’s victim’sFreedom of Information Act request produced a stream of emails that prove that Franklin acted with the full support of his chain of command.
Gen Breedlove wrote, ‘He [Franklin] and I have discussed in depth the meaning and the possible blowback. I stand behind his decision.’ And, when speaking before 500 majors who are on the way to becoming commanders, Breedlove attacked the prosecution and the judge, while defending Franklin and Wilkerson. Through all of this, not one word of criticism for Franklin’s or Breedlove’s actions has come from Secretary Hagel or US Air Force Chief of Staff Welsh.
Can there be any doubt that the status quo would remain, but for active involvement from brave survivors, the public and members of Congress?
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Air Force Times: Wilkerson: Demotion, ouster politically motivated
Air Force Officer At Center Of Sexual Assault Controversy Demoted And Forced Into Retirement
Protect Our Defenders Point by Point Rebuttal of Gen Franklin’s 18 Reasons for Overturning Col Wilkerson’s Sexual Assault Conviction
Florida Times-Union: Delores Barr Weaver backs national effort to support victims of military sexual assault
Politico: Military sex assault bill stalled by Syria
http://www.politico.com/story/
San Antonio Express-News: Hagel misses important opportunity
New York Times: Revisiting the Military’s Tailhook Scandal
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
McClatchy News: Senators differ on role for military brass in sexual assault cases
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Stars & Stripes: Emails show general warned against reversing Wilkerson verdict
http://www.stripes.com/news/
Associated Press: Air Force Officer Transfer Draws Protest
http://bigstory.ap.org/
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/
Protect Our Defenders partners with Attorney Susan Burke, Burke PLLC to advance lawsuits filed against the DoD and service academies for repeatedly ignoring rape, sexual assault and harassment, failing to prosecute perpetrators and retaliating against the victim.
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