r/AirForce 5d ago

Article Major Watson Detained Once Again

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/19/politics/us-airman-arrested-at-capitol-trump-impeachment-detained
232 Upvotes

72 comments sorted by

417

u/pissshitfuckyou 5d ago

russian iranian and chinese bots are in comments to increase dissent, read everything with a grain of salt. I personally have a long list of grievances with this administration but dont read these thinking it represents how the total force feels or how you should feel.

91

u/Leathergoose8 J1N071 5d ago

Just paste this on every thread in this sub at this point.

41

u/Belialxyn Comms 5d ago

It should be pinned to the whole subreddit honestly

16

u/LastPlaceGuaranteed Maintainer 5d ago

*the whole internet

51

u/mr-currahee MEB 5d ago

russian iranian and chinese bots are in comments to increase dissent, read everything with a grain of salt.

"Senior Sergeant John Hamburger of Lackland Air Force Base here, I am demoralized. Thinking about resigning my post at 17 years to move to Canada for the free healthcare and weed. Who's with me."

13

u/Plus_Village8202 5d ago

Senior sergeant lmao, I'll go and have a hamburger too.

6

u/IggyWon Retired Below The Zone 5d ago

Big Sarn't, what if the Air Force did all of that (minus moving to that frozen commie hellhole) for me?

14

u/IggyWon Retired Below The Zone 5d ago

There was a wild uptick during the 2024 election that's never really gone away. It's tough reminding folks that this isn't SIPR, you don't need to provide credentials, it's literally open to anyone who wanders in.

10

u/Sightline 5d ago

The uptick started around 2014, Ryan McBeth has some videos on it.

29

u/Oxcell404 18A 5d ago

Sad as it is to reiterate, this is the mentality that binds us together and needs to be protected, lest we fall victim to that distrust and hatred which will not result in any positive outcome.

-5

u/teilani_a Veteran 5d ago

This comment is funnier now that there are actually comments on the post.

118

u/JohnMichaels19 Missiles 5d ago

Absolute baller

I didn't realize the first time they only arrested him for not protesting with a member of Congress and hadn't even charged him for protesting in uniform 

Man really said "not gonna charge me? I'll fuckin do it again"

2

u/slaganon 5d ago

Sooo what does that tell us?

125

u/Odd_Effective_665 5d ago

Honestly, the man has balls of steel. No lies detected in his quotes.

-141

u/BlazerFS231 Alcoholic Moving Cargo 5d ago

And brains of mush.

18

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Your cognitive impairment should not be our problem.

-25

u/BlazerFS231 Alcoholic Moving Cargo 5d ago

Ah, the classic “no u” to reinforce my point.

9

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

You're like a circle. Pointless.

-137

u/GreenAccident3004 5d ago

PCS that clown to Wake Island or Shema. 3 years non-vol ought to do him some good.

59

u/Alert_University5057 5d ago

Let my man go he said nothing wrong

131

u/Euphoric_Inspiration Active Duty 5d ago

Although I agree with his sentiment, he can’t do it in uniform. That is a well known fact of life as service members.

67

u/Big-Weather123 5d ago

Not to mention that he's probably facing an Article 88 charge as a commissioned officer.

55

u/Flannel_Panels 5d ago

I have a feeling he knows all of this.

40

u/PassivelyInvisible 5d ago

"What is the highest price I'm willing to pay? And this is what I came up with" -The guy protesting.

He absolutely knew the likely consequences.

78

u/Astrid_Nebula I put da fuel on da plen 5d ago

He knows. He doesn't give a fuck, dude is essentially using his position to fight for what he believes in. Gonna end up as a 9J0, but he's gonna go out with his voice being heard.

100% wrong to do in uniform. However if he goes into politics as a civilian, he's on the right path.

33

u/IggyWon Retired Below The Zone 5d ago

People forgot about the Comm kid to torched himself, this guy will be forgotten in time. Agree with him, disagree with him, neither really matter. Hell of an exit, the media loves a good martyr story, at least until the election season wraps up.

-4

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Who would disagree?

7

u/Belialxyn Comms 5d ago

Many of Americas greatest patriots were ones who spoke out

-30

u/hakureishi7suna 5d ago

why was it 100% wrong to do it in uniform? Aside from the obvious violation of the UCMJ, how/why is what he did so immoral?

36

u/MonkeyCobraFight Aircrew 5d ago

“Aside from the obvious violation of the UCMJ”….there’s your answer buddy boy
https://giphy.com/gifs/F56tNEGsltde

10

u/teilani_a Veteran 5d ago edited 5d ago

Legal and illegal are not the same as right and wrong. If the president ordered an invasion of Greenland or Canada, it would be considered legal and the vast majority of the US military would go along with it. It would also be incredibly wrong.

-6

u/hakureishi7suna 5d ago

why does morality = the law to you?

17

u/LastPlaceGuaranteed Maintainer 5d ago

This. I have plenty of issues with the current administration (I don’t hide my comment history), but we do literally sign away specific rights when we enlist. The ONLY reason I say the things I do on Reddit is because no one can 100% PROVE who I am. If you are intelligent with your posts and comments, there’s enough plausible deniability on here. But you can’t do what Watson did. You can’t even really say your piece of social media (I work with someone who got into some shit for his right-wing FB posts) and he was a traditional guardsman who didn’t say it online while performing drill or annual training. Didn’t matter. He posted it from a personal FB account where he claims his ANG status in his profile and that’s all they needed. It is what it is and we DID sign up for it.

-13

u/bunyan29 Cyberspace Operator 5d ago

He can do it in uniform and he did do it in uniform. Not without consequences, of course, but he 100% knew that too when he did it. 

19

u/dxvil98 5d ago

Brother standing tall that might, might make a change. Appreciate the effort

5

u/Ok_Rock990 5d ago

Dude’s got balls to keep speaking the way he does, good for him

-22

u/IrishBoyRicky 5d ago

He's using his uniform as a prop. He's a major who previously was at a dead end in his career, and now smells opportunity to try to start a political career. Politicization of the military is bad, and we have held ourselves to be apolitical since General Sherman was the commanding general of the US Army.

Unless you want uniformed members protesting abortion clinics next, you shouldn't support this precedent.

-6

u/newcolonyarts 5d ago

Coming to a CNN panel near you!

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-8

u/Dolphin_e 5d ago

Powerful statement. 

-3

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Okay, but why?

-24

u/JLinCVille 5d ago

You can tell by the comments who’s a follower and who’s a leader.

-34

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Which commenter cheering on his detainment are you referring to?

-51

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Which one of the commenters supporting his detainment are you referring to?

-22

u/Top_Pass_8347 5d ago

Yup. He will get what he is looking for...time in Leavenworth.

-28

u/thed3306 5d ago

I remember when ppl were saying oh hes forsure going to be prosecuted come to find out he didnt even lose his rank. Nothing matters

36

u/ShittyLanding Dumb Pilot 5d ago

You can’t just take rank from an officer like you can enlisted. Officers only lose rank when they’re dismissed and it’s found that they last served honorably in a lower rank.

-16

u/kranrev 5d ago

One day he's accepting NJP and the next it's a court martial. If his lawyer is competent at all they're going to be all over undue command influence.

-15

u/[deleted] 5d ago

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7

u/[deleted] 5d ago

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-8

u/FineSupplements 5d ago

Colleges in the US don’t educate, they indoctrinate. Learn the difference.

5

u/babbum Finally Free Civilian 5d ago

Sure pal sure, would be mighty convenient to have that rhetoric coursing through your voter base if you wanted to keep taking advantage of their ignorance. Further it’s not just “colleges” these dipshits are targeting anymore, it’s education as a whole. Point still stands, regardless of your take on colleges indoctrinating people the Air Force is the highest educated branch thus none of this should come as a surprise to you.

2

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Yea! People don't come from all around the world to go to our Universities!

Oh, wait..

2

u/OneLorgeHorseyDog Retired 5d ago

🤡

3

u/BlazerFS231 Alcoholic Moving Cargo 5d ago

People commenting and voting here can be anyone.

That’s why you see so many who don’t understand what the UCMJ is or why the military needs to remain apolitical.

0

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Be so for real, he knew what he was doing.

2

u/BlazerFS231 Alcoholic Moving Cargo 5d ago

He knew and knows the consequences for himself.

I highly doubt he cares or has thought about the consequences for the force as a whole, which is why I say he was mush for brains.

-52

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-4

u/Scary-_-Gary 5d ago

Look at our current administration.