{"id":17286,"date":"2022-01-06T21:46:07","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T21:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/06\/army-overturns-reprimand-for-officer-who-attended-blm-protests-sued-command\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:41:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:41:00","slug":"army-overturns-reprimand-for-officer-who-attended-blm-protests-sued-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2022\/01\/06\/army-overturns-reprimand-for-officer-who-attended-blm-protests-sued-command\/","title":{"rendered":"Army overturns reprimand for officer who attended BLM protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An Army review board has overturned and destroyed a reprimand that a former Colorado Army National Guard lawyer received from his state\u2019s leadership after he wrote an opinion article criticizing his leaders for investigating his participation in a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, according to documents obtained by Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Capt. Alan Kennedy, who has since transferred to the Army Reserve, called the ruling a \u201cvictory for the First Amendment and the right to protest and write about racism\u201d when reached by Army Times. \u201cThe Army\u2019s reversal of [the] unconstitutional reprimand vindicates what we have said since May 30, 2020: there is no military exception to the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuit already resulted in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2021\/08\/06\/state-guard-units-cant-limit-off-duty-protests-by-their-troops-national-guard-bureau-memo-says\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Guard Bureau declaring<\/a> that federal restrictions on protest participation don\u2019t apply to off-duty part-time troops. That has led to concerns about the military\u2019s ability to enforce anti-extremism measures against off-duty Guardsmen, such as the Wisconsin National Guard soldier who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2021\/08\/06\/state-guard-units-cant-limit-off-duty-protests-by-their-troops-national-guard-bureau-memo-says\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CalProtest1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">State Guard units can\u2019t limit troops\u2019 off-duty protests by their troops, National Guard Bureau memo says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A Defense Department instruction on service members&#039; protest activities does not apply to National Guard troops who are not \u201cin a Title 10 duty status under federal command and control.&quot;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Kennedy\u2019s lawsuit against his former leaders continues in federal court. He wants the courts to rule that the military can\u2019t restrict the free speech rights of troops, especially when they\u2019re not on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Kennedy got his reprimand<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legal saga began when Col. Charles Beatty, the Colorado Guard\u2019s chief of staff, ordered an investigation into Kennedy for being present at a May 30, 2020 protest in Denver. Police teargassed the crowd, and Kennedy wrote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/06\/04\/tear-gas-george-floyd-protest-guest-columnist\/\" target=\"_blank\">opinion article<\/a> about his experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beatty told the investigator to evaluate whether Kennedy broke any rules by writing an op-ed, or if he had violated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esd.whs.mil\/Portals\/54\/Documents\/DD\/issuances\/dodi\/132506p.pdf\">Department of Defense Instruction 1325.06<\/a>, which prohibits off-duty troops from \u201cparticipating in off-post demonstrations\u2026[where] violence is likely to result.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawyer was not in a duty status that day, nor was he in a duty status when he published the article. Even active-duty members of the military are permitted to write letters to the editor, op-eds, or other opinion news pieces, so long as there is a disclaimer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The investigator found that Kennedy did not violate any regulations, save for a minor technical issue about the disclaimer in his article. He also said that there was no way Kennedy could have known violence would occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Beatty changed the findings to say that \u201cviolence was likely to occur\u201d at the protest over George Floyd\u2019s killing, and Kennedy received a temporary local reprimand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the first investigation, Kennedy wrote another opinion article, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/coloradonewsline.com\/2020\/07\/09\/why-is-the-national-guard-investigating-peaceful-protests\/\" target=\"_blank\">Why is the National Guard investigating peaceful protests?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This led Beatty to launch a second investigation into Kennedy. The investigating officer found that he had violated portions of the Colorado Code of Military Justice by criticizing his chain of command, so Paul issued a permanent GOMOR \u2014 general officer memorandum of reprimand \u2014 in what was likely a death blow to Kennedy\u2019s military career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reprimand cited the first investigation and said Kennedy \u201cbrought disrepute and dishonor upon the COARNG.\u201d He sued, alleging violations of his 1st Amendment rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2021\/04\/22\/colorado-guard-jag-officer-suing-superiors-over-his-participation-in-blm-protests\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-04-22-at-3.41.50-PM.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Colorado Guard JAG officer suing superiors over his participation in BLM protests<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Army Capt. Alan Kennedy, a part-time JAG in the Colorado National Guard, is suing his superiors for giving him discipline and reprimands he claims limited his off-duty freedom of speech.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Kennedy\u2019s lawsuit and media coverage of the case, the state\u2019s top general ordered a third investigation into the previous two investigations. It found that Beatty and Colorado Guard officials had a \u201cgood faith, yet mistaken understanding\u201d of the protest rules in believing they applied to Guardsmen not in a Title 10 duty status. His GOMOR still stood, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now the reprimand is overturned, thanks to the Department of the Army Suitability Evaluation Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kennedy\u2019s appeal to the board \u201cprovided clear and convincing evidence which shows the GOMOR is inaccurate, unjust, or otherwise flawed,\u201d the Dec. 14 record of board proceedings states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former Colorado JAG doesn\u2019t want it to stop there, though. He told Army Times in August that he worried the same regulation could be weaponized against federal reserve component troops, whose drill weekends take place in a Title 10 rather than Title 32 status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur case against [the regulation] which unconstitutionally prohibits off-duty participation in off-post demonstrations if \u2018violence is likely to result\u2019 continues,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cUnconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment speech have a chilling effect on those of us who wish to speak out against racism and abuses of power when not on orders, not on duty, and not in uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Capt. Alan Kennedy&#8217;s legal battle against his former chain of command continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[100,23,92,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3376],"class_list":["post-17286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UEK5V37GIJBLNKP3GOU4EJPBCA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2022\/01\/06\/army-overturns-reprimand-for-officer-who-attended-blm-protests-sued-command\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army overturns reprimand for officer who attended BLM protests - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Capt. Alan Kennedy&#039;s legal battle against his former chain of command continues.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Army overturns reprimand for officer who attended BLM protests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Capt. 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