Tag Archives: james branum

US Soldier Files Conscientious Objector Application

US Army Private Chris Munoz has reportedly filed an application to be a conscientious objector — just days before his unit ships out to Afghanistan.  His lawyer, James Branum, said he’s actually been trying to do it since about halfway through basic training last year:

At weapons training, he really began to think about what he was being asked to do. He was told there could come a situation where he might be forced to fire on a child. He realized then he could not Read more

“Terror Plot” Soldier Naser Abdo Defiant, Weinstein Equivocates

US Army PFC Naser Abdo, arrested last week on charges he was planning to blow up a restaurant and kill Soldiers near Fort Hood, Texas, was defiant at his court appearance.

Abdo…refused to stand up during Friday’s hearing when everyone in the court was asked to rise for the judge.

As he was being led out of the courtroom, he yelled out “Iraq 2006” and the name of the 14-year-old Iraqi girl who was raped and murdered in 2006 by a U.S. soldier. He then shouted: “Nidal Hasan Fort Hood 2009.”

Organizations that had previously supported Abdo in his objector application have now disavowed him:

“If any of these allegations are true, any sort of violence toward anyone goes completely against what a conscientious objector believes,” said Jose Vasquez, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Another group, Read more