Marine officer who blasted commanders for Afghanistan chaos in viral video is detained in military jail ahead of trial

Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, who went viral last month after criticizing top military commanders over the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, is currently being detained in a military jail.

What is the background?

On the same day a suicide bomber attacked at a gate at the Kabul airport last month, killing more than a dozen U.S. service members and nearly 170 Afghan civilians, Scheller posted a video to his Facebook profile demanding accountability for American commanders.

Scheller said rank-and-file service members were upset that their commanders had abdicated responsibility for the botched withdrawal.

The day after Scheller posted the video, he revealed that he had been "relieved of duty." The next week, Scheller submitted his resignation from the Marine Corps.

What are the details?

Scheller's father, Stu Scheller Sr., revealed Monday that his son is in pretrial confinement for allegedly violating a gag order.

"They had a gag order on him and asked him not to speak," the father told Task & Purpose. "He did, and they incarcerated him. They don't know what to do with him."

"All our son did is ask the questions that everybody was asking themselves, but they were too scared to speak out loud," he added. "He was asking for accountability. In fact, I think he even asked for an apology that we made mistakes, but they couldn't do that, which is mind-blowing."

The senior Scheller said his son is expected to appear at a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

What did the Marine Corps say?

After Scheller's father spoke out, the Marine Corps released a statement confirming that Scheller is, in fact, being detained ahead of a preliminary hearing.

"Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. is currently in pre-trial confinement in the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune pending an Article 32 preliminary hearing," Capt. Sam Stephenson, a spokesman for Training and Education Command, said.

"The time, date, and location of the proceedings have not been determined. Lt. Col. Scheller will be afforded all due process," Stephenson added.

Anything else?

Scheller, unfortunately, predicted that he would receive a court-martial and said he would "probably do some jail time."

The military has not specified what crimes Scheller is accused of.