Jailed marine Stuart Scheller demands Trumps don’t take up his case

Jailed marine Stuart Scheller has demanded the Trumps stop helping in his case, saying he would “rather sit in jail” than receive help from the former president.

Lt Col Scheller was thrown in a military prison without charge after defying orders to stop posting on social media, instead continuing to openly criticise the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal of US troops, citizens and allies from Afghanistan, which left 13 Americans dead.

But while Lt Col Scheller does not want any association with the Trump family, supporters of Donald Trump have helped raise more than $1.82m for Mr Scheller, who sought to distance himself from the support of Mr Trump and his family over the weekend.

“President Trump. I was told by everyone to kiss the ring because of your following and power. I refuse. While I respect your foreign policy positions, I hate how you divided the country. I don’t need or want your help,” Mr Scheller wrote on Facebook on the weekend.

Mr Scheller was taken into custody on Monday and remains in “pretrial confinement” at Camp Lejeune NC until at least next week as the Marine Corps considers charges for violating a “gag order”.

Mr Scheller rose to national prominence after publicly criticising the Afghanistan withdrawal, and calling on his supporters to follow him to “bring the whole f*cking system down”.

He was fired on 27 August but continued to call for accountability from the US military’s leadership, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, and announced his intentions to charge the head of US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie Jr, with “dereliction of duty”.

Mr Scheller’s support since going public in August has only increased since he was fired in August and taken into custody on 27 September.

More than two dozen Congressmembers formally wrote to the US Marine Corps Commander, General Berger, to release Mr Scheller from custody. It was signed by Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, and Thomas Massie, among others.

Mr Trump himself put out a press release pointing to a news story about Mr Scheller, and Donald Trump Jr tweeted that it was a “disgrace” he was fired for seeking accountability for deadly mistakes while “woke generals” could troll and pontificate about “white rage”.

Mr Scheller seemingly didn’t appreciate the Trump family’s support, saying on Facebook that time has run out on the former president’s generation.

“Tell your son to stop tweeting about me. Your whole family knows nothing about US or our sacrifices. I could never work with you. I’d rather sit in jail and be released with a dishonourable than make compromises in my beliefs,” he wrote.

Despite Mr Scheller’s disdain for Mr Trump as a leader, the former president’s supporters have continued to donate to his cause. One donor who wrote on the fundraising page suggested Mr Scheller was wrong to say the former president divided the…