Big Tech is once again doing the bidding of the left and their allies within the federal government and bureaucracy. Out of nowhere, online payment system PayPal decided to “deplatform” a U.S. Marine.
Standing Up to Bad Leaders
Many of you may remember Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller from a viral video in which the Marine called for his superiors in military leadership to hold themselves accountable for their actions related to the botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“People are upset because senior leaders let them down, and none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying ‘we messed this up,’” Scheller said in the video.
“Did any of you throw your rank on the table and say ‘hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield, a strategic airbase, before we evacuate everyone.’ Did anyone do that? And when you didn’t think to do that did anyone raise their hand and say ‘we completely messed this up?’ Potentially all those people did die in vain if we don’t have senior leaders that own up and raise their hand and say ‘we did not do this well in the end,’” the lieutenant colonel added.
“I wanna say this very strongly. I have been fighting for 17 years. I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders: I demand accountability,” Scheller concluded.
Watch his full statement here:
Marine officer Stuart Scheller has been relieved from duty for this video.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 27, 2021
American Military News reports: “Scheller released subsequent videos, with one announcing he would resign his commission and another video announcing that he would try to bring a court-martial case against Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), for his role in the Afghanistan withdrawal and evacuation effort.”
Scheller has never been afraid of the consequences of his bold statements. The Marine has said on multiple occasions that he realizes that publicly calling out military leadership could cause him to lose his battalion commander status, his military retirement, and his family’s overall stability. Still, he continued to speak out, because he knows that he has to do what is right for his country.
Deplatformed
Speaking for Scheller, retired U.S. Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher announced on September 22nd that PayPal had “deplatformed” the Marine officer.
This deplatforming happened coincidentally on the same day that Gallagher’s Pipe Hitter Foundation had begun fundraising with Scheller.
“Just hours after launching our campaign for LtCol Scheller he has been deplatformed by @paypal. Big Tech has been doing this for years to silence, crush, and intimidate individuals and their families and destroy their livelihoods. We will not be silenced,” Gallagher said in a post on Facebook.
Later, Gallagher shared a screenshot of the notice that was sent to Scheller by PayPal, which stated: “After a review, we decided to permanently limit your account as we found potential risk associated with it.”
The day after the Navy SEAL made his announcement, PayPal reversed its decision before any action could be taken against the company by Gallagher, the foundation, or Scheller.
On September 23rd, Gallagher wrote another Facebook post, which said: “The account has been mysteriously restored. Keep in mind no information was provided to them to ‘review’ and Stu is under a gag order so he has no way to communicate or get any word out.”
In Gallagher’s original Facebook post, he also shared a statement from Scheller about why he chose to turn to Pipe Hitter Foundation for support during his fight for accountability from military leadership.
“I gravitated towards PHF because in their mission it states, ‘defending the rights and freedoms of our men and women in uniform – the same rights and freedoms they risk their lives to uphold,’” the Marine said, according to Gallagher’s post. “This message is clearly in line with my life’s current path. A partnership with this organization was an easy choice.”
American Military News reports: “Gallagher started the Pipe Hitter Foundation after his own high-profile split with the U.S. military. In September 2018, Gallagher was charged with murdering an ISIS terrorist prisoner and faced a monthslong war crimes court-martial before being acquitted of the murder charges. The Pipe Hitter Foundation’s stated mission is to provide financial and legal support for military service members.”
