Fort Riley soldier alleges
new threats over lawsuit
By JOHN MILBURN
Associated Press Writer
April 3, 2008
TOPEKA, Kan. - A Fort Riley soldier says he continues to face threats from fellow soldiers because he's accusing the government of religious discrimination in a federal lawsuit.
Spc. Jeremy Hall filed a formal statement Wednesday with the Army after he said he overheard a conversation between two sergeants in his platoon, with one expressing a desire to "bust Hall in the mouth."
Hall said animosity is directed toward him because he is an atheist and is suing the Department of Defense, alleging it permits a culture that pushes fundamentalist Christianity.
Hall is with the 287th Military Police Company and recently returned from his second tour in Iraq. In his statement, obtained by The Associated Press, Hall said the comments were unprovoked and that his superiors have no interest in his well-being.
"I do not feel safe in my unit," Hall said in his statement.
Fort Riley spokeswoman Alison Kohler said Thursday that the Army doesn't comment on matters related to pending litigation. She didn't know whether Fort Riley officials were investigating Hall's statement.
Hall's lawsuit was initially filed in September by Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
They dropped it and then refiled it in February to include new allegations about Hall's promotion being blocked and other claims about conditions at Fort Riley. Among the defendants are Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Hall alleges he was denied his constitutional right to hold a meeting to discuss atheism while he was deployed in Iraq with his military police unit.
He says in the new complaint that his promotion to sergeant was blocked after the commander of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley sent an e-mail post-wide saying Hall had sued.
Also named in the suit is Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, who Hall alleges prevented him from holding a meeting of atheists and non-Christians last year in Iraq. The lawsuit alleges that Welborn threatened to file military charges against Hall and to block his re-enlistment. Welborn has denied the allegations.
Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the incident is the latest in series of reprisals against Hall, dating to his early return from Iraq. Weinstein has said Hall had to come back because his safety couldn't be guaranteed.
"This is yet another outrageous and scandalous abuse of military command authority that demands immediate punishment," said Weinstein, adding that if Hall is harmed physically at all "there will be unbridled hell to pay."
The lawsuit alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and in which activities by Christian organizations are sanctioned.
Hall's attorneys say Fort Riley has permitted a culture promoting Christianity and anti-Islamic sentiment, including posters quoting conservative columnist Ann Coulter and promoting the sale of the book "A Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" at the post exchange.
The Pentagon has said that the military values and respects religious freedoms but that accommodating religious practices should not interfere with unit cohesion, readiness, standards or discipline.
Weinstein, a former White House counsel during the Reagan administration, previously sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally imposed Christianity on students at its academy. A federal judge threw out that lawsuit in 2006.
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