The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held it’s annual event in Dallas, Texas between Friday, July 9 – July 11, 2021 at the Hilton Anatole. Many conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States attend to discuss current issues and to provide solutions.
Michael Berry is General Counsel for First Liberty Institute. He joined First Liberty in 2013 after serving for seven years on active duty as an attorney with the U.S. Marine Corps. Among Mr. Berry’s numerous positions within the Marine Corps, he deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, and from 2009-2012, Mr. Berry served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the United States Naval Academy. Mr. Berry continues to proudly serve our nation as a member of the Marine Corps Reserve.
As General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, Mr. Berry is responsible for leading all aspects of First Liberty’s legal operations. A recognized subject-matter expert, Mr. Berry has testified before Congress and he is routinely invited to speak across the nation about religious freedom. Mr. Berry earned his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University, and he earned his law degree from The Ohio State University.
Held To A Higher Standard
For those serving one of the most respected institutions in America comes with added responsibilities and obligations. You are held to a higher professional standard and must set the example in all that you say and do. Many serve in positions of trust, with access to classified information or in sensitive positions. Those in leadership and supervisory positions are entrusted with the well-being of individual Service members and civilian employees as well as the well-being of the organization. They are expected to do the right thing, to look after each other, and to work together to overcome whatever challenges the mission presents.
Is the military wokeness that prevalent? Based on very few articles that I’m reading it may be just a pop culture problem. Is the military going to police itself to eject those who display dishonorable actions? Well, I sure hope so. Those who are dishonorable don’t have a place in the military. I’m not convinced that we truly have a tremendous woke problem. It is remotely possible this could be an opportunity to improve recruitments and departments that have gotten too relaxed.
This is Not A Drill
This speech was not what I expected, but it sure brought the right attention. Mr. Berry openly shared, “Our military is at risk of being overrun by woke ideology. I know this is true, because I’m perhaps the only conservative who is a member of the Department of Defense’s recently concocted countering extremism working group.”
A few months ago, the Secretary of Defense set up this working group in order to identify and remove so-called extremists from our military. What also started a few months ago with Facebook popups? At the moment, this working group is being led by somebody who he publicly proclaimed that anyone who voted for Donald Trump in the election is a racist, a misogynist and even an extremist. Recently President Biden declared that white supremacy is the greatest threat to America right now. Not China. Not Russia. Not North Korea.
Mission: Identify and Kick Out The Extremists
Berry said, “I guess maybe the silver lining in all this is that we’ve somehow found a way to defeat climate change. The Pentagon’s Countering Extremism Working Group is on a mission to identify and remove so-called extremists from our military and if you’re like me you might have stopped and thought extremism is bad. I don’t want extremists in my military. And true enough, nobody wants to see true extremists kicked out of our military more than those of us who serve. By true extremists, anyone who uses or threatens violence to accomplish an ideological agenda. But that’s not how the Pentagon is defining extremism.”
Mr. Berry continued, “According to a Department of Defense Training Manual the following are examples of extremism. Ladies and gentlemen, I can’t make this up. This is from an actual D.O.D Training Manual, if you believe in individual liberties, states rights, if you want to make the world a better place and get this the American colonists who sought to be free from British tyranny–All of those are examples of extremists. According to the Pentagon, did you notice something about every one of those examples? Not one of them mentions conduct or actions. They all talk about thoughts, beliefs and values. Maybe the first time in our nation’s history, the Pentagon is trying to get rid of people who simply declare that the values that you and I, and millions of our fellow Americans hold dear are extreme. And it makes us unfit to serve in the military. One of the first things, as an example of what this countering extremism working group is considering doing is monitoring the social media activity of American service members and American Veterans. They want to see if anyone likes, shares, posts or even tweets something that the Pentagon considers to be prohibited or extreme. That’s right the U.S. government wants to use your hard earned tax dollars to monitor our troops on social media. Just in case somebody happens to post something that they consider extreme. Such as, oh I don’t know maybe an Olympic athlete showing pride in Old Glory for once.”
Stand-Down Training Materials
On February, 26, 2021, the Department of Defense released the stand-down training materials to address extremism as one of the initial steps in support of the memo directing commanding officers and supervisors at all levels to conduct a one-day “stand-down”. The training materials provide services and components information on training and facilitated discussions to address the issues of extremist ideology within the ranks. The 13 page training materials can be found on the U.S. Department of Defense Newsroom page.
As I read through trying to find the examples Mr. Berry gave. I reviewed the 4 case study examples that illustrates problematic behaviors:
1. Example One: Paramilitary Activity
In September 2019, as a result of an FBI investigation, an Army junior enlisted member was arrested and charged in the federal criminal justice system with one count of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction. During the investigation, it was discovered that the Service member had “disseminated guidance on how to construct improvised explosive devices” and had spoken about his desire to travel to Ukraine to fight with the Azov Battalion, a paramilitary group with neo-Nazi sympathies. At the time of his arrest, the Service member stated that he did this to cause “chaos.” He was administratively discharged from the Army and sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.
2. Example Two: Domestic Extremism
In February 2019, the FBI arrested a junior officer in the U.S. Coast Guard after uncovering a stockpile of weapons, ammunition, and opioids in his home. The member planned to conduct a widespread domestic terror attack targeting politicians and journalists in the Washington, D.C. area. The officer was a self-described white nationalist and conducted thousands of internet searches on neo-Nazi and neo-fascist websites using his government computer. The officer was dropped from the Coast Guard rolls and sentenced in federal court to 13 years in prison.
3. Example Three: Organizing and Recruiting
In May 2019, an Air Force senior enlisted member was alleged to have been a member of Identity Evropa, a neo-Nazi and white supremacist organization. The Service member also allegedly physically posted supremacist propaganda on several occasions. Furthermore, he allegedly served as an organizer with Identity Evropa, recruited other members, and appeared in photographs wearing clothes with the Identity Evropa logo and taking part in a protest sponsored by the group. He was demoted in grade and administratively separated from the Air Force.
4. Example Four: Racist and Supremacist Statements
In 2019, an enlisted Marine shared a number of racist social media posts, including one of himself in blackface and with Nazi propaganda. One of the posts depicted military explosives placed in the shape of a Swastika. The member was administratively discharged from the Service.
Social Credit System
Mr. Berry said, “If that sounds eerily familiar it’s because China has been doing it for years. The Chinese government monitors what their citizens do on social media–every day. It’s a social credit system. If you say the right things about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) you get social credit points. If you say the wrong thing you get those points taken away. And if you lose enough points the government starts to take away some of your freedoms and liberties. If that sounds like something out of a dystopian novel guess what it’s happening in China right now. And now our government is considering doing the very same thing here. Well guess what? I’ve got news–not on our watch. At First Liberty Institute, we don’t sit on the sidelines and lament America’s dissent and demise. I told you earlier that I’m here from the front lines to report on what’s happening and that’s because First Liberty is on those front lines. Every day fighting and winning. We win a lot. In fact, for over 20 years our win rate has been higher than 90 percent. And we don’t get tired of winning. Now that record only stands to improve with the incredible judges that were confirmed during the Trump administration. These are some of the most brilliant minds in the legal profession and they are committed. They’re just as committed to defending the Constitution as you and I.”
Talk About Packing The Courts Is Not New
Mr. Berry also shared, “But there’s another threat. I have to warn you about the radical left also knows how effective President Trump was at rebalancing our judiciary. They also know that they can’t remove those judges, because they have lifetime tenure. So the left says, if they can’t beat them. They’re simply going to outnumber them. As I stand here today, the radical left is pouring tens of millions of dollars into its effort to pack our courts from the Supreme Court on down through our lower courts. Now let’s just call it, what it is. Whenever somebody tries to overthrow a branch of the government you call it a coup. And if the left gets its way with this coup, our Constitutional Republic as we know it is gone. But as I said, not on our watch. First Liberty is doing something about it. We are exposing the radical left’s coup attempt and I invite every single one of you to join us. All you have to do is visit FirstLiberty.org or SupremeCoup.com to add your voice to the tens of thousands of Americans who stand with us in defending religious freedom for all Americans. I mentioned at the beginning, that some of my friends warned me that speaking here today at CPAC might get me canceled or even kicked out of the military. Well, if they’re going to discharge me then so be it. Just as long as my discharge papers say why I was kicked out for love of country and for telling the truth. Thank you, God bless America and God bless Texas.”
After doing a quick Google search and review how often packing the court is brought up. It turns out to be a very popular topic that has occurred for the last several decades. The Constitutional Amendment route requires two-thirds of the House and Senate in Congress. There is a committee that would have to host a hearing to review candidates. I’m sure Mr. Berry is gifted in his services that he provides, but I would hope the next time that he speaks about the Department of Defense Training Manual that he will highlight where it states his claims.
**Actual quotes from Michael Berry on Friday, July 9, 2021 at CPAC Dallas.