(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Special Ops unit wanted to rename itself “Crusaders,” use decapitated head patch. MRFF stopped them. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-28 MRFF artist rendering of proposed unit patch image, based on MRFF client’s description. Seriously, in what universe would anybody think this is okay? A Special Ops unit in our Christian-nationalist-infested United States military recently voted to rename itself the “Crusaders,” and for its unit patch artwork use a Crusader with a sword in one hand and a distinctively Jewish-looking decapitated head in the other, with two lightning bolts in the background forming a cross. This is what a thoroughly repulsed member of that unit came to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) about, on behalf of themself and two other members of this seriously misguided unit, all three of them Christians. MRFF has successfully dealt with military units calling themselves “Crusaders” before, such as back in 2012 when a Marine fighter squadron changed its name from "Werewolves" to “Crusaders,” but was ordered to return to being "Werewolves" after MRFF intervened on behalf of 12 Marines, and that time in 2016 when a unit on a base where Saudis, Jordanians, and other Muslim allies train thought identifying themselves as “Crusaders” was a fine idea. And then there was that great big Crusader sign that the Army’s 8th Special Troops Battalion Warrior Training Center put up outside its headquarters. And that dining hall Crusader artwork at Mountain Home Air Force Base. The list goes on and on. But this latest one tops them all with its proposed use of the decapitated head imagery! This was the MRFF Special Ops client’s description of the artwork voted for by their unit: “It shows a picture of a crusader in his armor with a cross on the front in red color holding up his sword in one hand while standing on a mountain top. The sky was a big American flag with 2 lighting bolts forming a Christian cross. In his other hand was the severed head of his enemy. Dripping with blood and with black hair and a long hook nose. Our boss said this was supposed to be the head of Satan but how would anyone even know that? He said it would put fear into the hearts of our enemies. And this one was the least gross and obnoxious of the three we voted on.” MRFF’s clients felt unable to refuse to participate in this twisted vote because, as one of them put it, “[I]n our world defying such a ‘suggestion’ by the guy in charge of our war fighting unit can get you jacked up and shitcanned forever.” As is his standard operating procedure when contacted by a service man or woman about an issue, MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein immediately reached out to a commander a few levels above the offending party, in this case a Special Ops commander well above the team leader of the wannabe-Crusaders unit, writing the following email: From: Michael L Weinstein Subject: New "Crusaders" Name for SPEC OPS Combat Unit and New "Crusaders” Patch Date: April 25, 2023 at 5:21:46 PM MDT To: (U.S. Active Duty Special Operations Military Commander’s E-mail Address Withheld) RE: New "Crusaders" Name for SPEC OPS Combat Unit and New "Crusaders” Patch Dear (Commander’s Name and Rank Withheld), Thank you for the several phone calls we had today regarding one of the subordinate Special Operations (SPEC OPS) combat units under your command. As you know, several members of that unit, all of them practicing Christians, have come to MRFF as a result of a decision made by this unit’s “Team Leader” to change the name of the unit from (unit’s current name withheld) to “The Crusaders” with an accompanying new “Crusaders” unit patch to be affixed on their combat attire. As we discussed, sir, MRFF has encountered this very same situation a number of times through the years and has always been able to justly stop it almost immediately in its tracks. These successes include forcing a U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadron and a U.S. Air Force fighter squadron to abandon the use of the “Crusaders” name and accompanying “Crusaders” iconography on their fighter jets, uniform patches, and signs placed in their units' HQ buildings, et al. MRFF also forced Company C-1 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to drop its use of the same “Crusaders” name and visual iconography to include a West Point cadet dressed up as a Crusader and running up and down the sidelines at West Point football games. MRFF also stopped an Army aviation unit at Fort Rucker, Alabama, from doing the very same thing with its unit name, et al. There have been a number of other similar attempts through the years by U.S. military units to employ the “Crusader” name and accompanying “Crusader” visuals for uniforms and building signs, etc., and MRFF has been able to stop all of these. You asked me to explain why the use of this “Crusader” name and uniform patches is wrong. Sir, let me make this very simple for you, please: (1) Please recall that the actual Crusaders murdered countless Jews and Muslims during their many years of bloody, sectarian foreign conquest specifically engineered to conquer their enemies in the name of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and their Christian faith. The use of their name and iconography by the U.S. armed forces is as wretched as any similar use by our American military of the Nazi swastika or associated Nazi paraphernalia and/or Confederate States "Stars and Bars" from the American Civil War. MRFF has battled the use of both in our nearly two decades of civil rights activism, by the way. (2) The use of the “Crusaders” name and accompanying visuals, such as uniform patches and unit building signs, is completely violative of (A) the “No Establishment” Clause of the U.S. Constitution; (B) its construing Federal caselaw; (C) a slew of DoD EEO/IG and related Directives, Regulations, and Instructions; the Uniform Code of Military Justice; and the foundational core values of the United States (military branch name withheld). Sir, MRFF is NOT going to lay out any more key legal or even practical facts for you. If you do NOT immediately stop this subordinate unit under your command from changing its name to “The Crusaders” and using “Crusader” visual iconography for unit uniform patches and building signs, I swear to you that MRFF will both expeditiously and aggressively sue you and the (military branch name withheld) in Federal District Court in (U.S. State name withheld) to stop you from doing so! (Commander’s Name and Rank Withheld), I want you to think VERY HARD about how you might try to explain this Federal litigation you caused not merely to your immediate chain of command but, especially, to the Secretary of the (military branch name withheld) and the Chief of Staff of the U.S. (military branch name withheld). Oh, and please be prepared to also explain your prospective failure to stop this “Crusader” insanity to DoD Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is already well ON THE RECORD FROM DAY 1 OF HIS TENURE as wanting to be the “lodestar” (his words not mine) for racial and religious diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Defense Department. *BOTTOM LINE, sir: Stop your subordinate Spec OPS Combat Unit from renaming itself as “The Crusaders” and using the most repulsive and Christian Nationalist graphic possible as their new logo and uniform patch. (Have you even LOOKED at that new proposed “Crusader” art yet?!) Failure to immediately do so will land you and your command not only directly in Federal Court but also all over the national and international media with the names, ranks, titles, and installations of those responsible for this disgrace justly on full display. Standing by for your earliest decision here, sir. Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq. Founder and President Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) 505-250-7727 The commander’s response was swift. In less than two hours he wrote back to Mikey that he had instructed his subordinate commander to keep the unit’s current name and patch: From: (E-mail Address of Active Duty Special Operations Commander withheld) Subject: MRFF Complaint Decision Date: April 25, 2023 at 6:55:47 PM MDT To: Information Weinstein Dear Mr. Weinstein, Thank you for alerting me and my staff to the relevant issues involving the Crusader name change proposal and Crusader uniform patch proposal for (Special Operations unit name and nomenclature withheld). After careful review of all of the issues involved I have instructed (name and title of subordinate Spec Ops commander withheld) to keep the current name and patch of the unit intact with no changes approved for the foreseeable future. I am sending this from my personal email address and asking you to please honor your pledge for the MRFF to keep all personal identities and unit designations of the parties involved here confidential as agreed in our calls today. The (military branch name withheld) is dedicated to its mission and oath to support the United States constitution. We appreciate the MRFF's help in this situation to provide subject matter expertise in order to analyze the constitutional implications had the new Crusader name and patch eventually been approved. Which it has not. Thank you and the MRFF for supporting our troops, Mr. Weinstein. V/R (Name, rank, title, phone number and installation of Active Duty Special Operations Commander withheld) This was the “After Action Report,” as the MRFF client who sent it called it, describing the whole sordid situation: From: (Active Duty Special Operations Military Member’s E-mail Address withheld) Subject: After Action Report & Shout Out to the MRFF Date: April 26, 2023 at 8:16:37 AM MDT To: Mikey Weinstein Hello. I am one of the several military special operators who came to the MRFF for help about our Team Leader trying to change the name of our unit to The Crusaders. First off I am a Christian and all of the others who joined me in asking for the MRFF’s help are also. Our Team Leader also wanted a new patch for the new Crusader name. He had 3 of them drawn up and we voted on the best. Let me say that many of us including our (Senior NCO’s title withheld) were totally against this FUBAR idea of the new name and patch. But in our world defying such a “suggestion” by the guy in charge of our war fighting unit can get you jacked up and shitcanned forever. And this is why we called for the MRFF. The patch drawing that got the most votes was the least offensive one and yet it still sucked big time. I can’t send a photo of it w/o getting ID’ed but I will describe it. It shows a picture of a crusader in his armor with a cross on the front in red color holding up his sword in one hand while standing on a mountain top. The sky was a big American flag with 2 lighting bolts forming a Christian cross. In his other hand was the severed head of his enemy. Dripping with blood and with black hair and a long hook nose. Our boss said this was supposed to be the head of Satan but how would anyone even know that? He said it would put fear into the hearts of our enemies. And this one was the least gross and obnoxious of the three we voted on. Look all of this is just so f-ed up we can’t even believe it. Even though the MRFF came in to stop this almost right away the damage has been done in our unit because of our Team Leader’s selfish attempt to change our name and use this f’ed up uniform patch. Making us out to be Christian warriors. We have plenty of folks in the Spec Ops community who are not everyday Christians. But this whole thing even shocked many of us who are like me and the others who came with me to ask the MRFF to stop it. The negative consequences of this had it gone through would have been hugely bad! Our serious thanks to Mr. Weinstein and the whole of MRFF who all jumped into this shit at our request and dealt with our chain of command. Our local MRFF (installation name withheld) representative set this up for us to get to Mr. Weinstein directly and we also thank her. The MRFF fixed this so fast it left our heads spinning. Cannot thank y’all enough! Please don’t use any of our ID info but as we don’t want others to have to ever go thru this it’s fine to use everything else. Like seeing these MRFF victories? Help MRFF continue to fight these battles on behalf of our service men and women who can’t fight back against the military’s Christian nationalists alone! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/28/2166400/-Special-Ops-unit-wanted-to-rename-itself-Crusaders-use-decapitated-head-patch-MRFF-stopped-them Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/