The US Army has sparked ‘outrage’ from lawmakers and Christian group leaders for listing pro-life groups as ‘terrorists’ in a recent training session.
Fort Liberty garrison in North Carolina is facing criticism after a photograph of a slideshow given by trainers at an anti-terror briefing circulated on social media.
The slide categorized ‘anti-abortion’ and ‘pro-life’ organizations as ‘terrorist groups’, indicating they could be a threat to the safety of military installations.
It named Operation Rescue and National Right To Life as examples, along with people with ‘IM4IT’ ‘choose life’ license plates on their vehicles.
Twenty-five lawmakers, including members of the House Armed Services Committee signed a letter to US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth expressing ‘outrage’ over the ‘disturbing’ training session.
The US Army has sparked ‘outrage’ from lawmakers and Christian group leaders after listing pro-life groups as ‘terrorists’ in a recent training session
The US Army training slide categorized ‘anti-abortion’ and ‘pro-life’ organizations as ‘terrorist groups’, indicating they could be a threat to the safety of military installations
‘We write today to express our outrage at a Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) training held at Fort Liberty that characterized pro-life organizations as ‘terrorist groups’,’ the letter reads.
‘The training labeled several prominent and well-respected pro-life groups as violent extremists.
‘The training also indicated the members of these organizations are threats to the safety of military installations and designated symbols of pro-life groups, including state-issued pro-life license plates, as indicators of terrorism.
‘This is truly shocking for an organization that insists on treating everyone with ‘dignity and respect.”
Led by Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind, the letter said the training session was conducted for 47 ‘uniformed soldiers tasked with guarding access points for Fort Liberty’.
‘Training the installation gate guards to ensure that servicemembers and their families who have pro-life license plates should be considered suspicious and possible terroristic threats to the installation, is not only absurd but dangerous,’ the letter reads.
Fort Liberty garrison in North Carolina is facing criticism after a photograph of a slideshow given by trainers at an anti-terror briefing circulated on social media
Twenty-five lawmakers, including members of the House Armed Services Committee signed a letter to US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth (pictured) expressing ‘outrage’ over the ‘disturbing training’ session
‘Young soldiers trained to treat certain state-issued license plates as a terrorist threat heightens the risk that they will be involved in a needlessly confrontational situation with otherwise permissible drivers accessing Fort Liberty.’
The letter urged the Army to ‘immediately issue a correction’ over the slide and to ‘discipline those individuals responsible for spreading such false and divisive claims’.
The lawmakers also demanded answers about how the slide was allowed in the presentation in the first place.
Several leaders of pro-life groups also spoke out against the training module. Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life called the briefing ‘deeply offensive’.
‘In a presentation that is deeply offensive to pro-life Americans across the nation, Fort Liberty promoted outright lies about National Right to Life in a demonstration of lazy scholarship,’ Tobias said in a statement.
‘In our over 50-year history, National Right to Life has always, consistently, and unequivocally, condemned violence against anyone.’
Several leaders of pro-life groups including Tony Perkins (left) and Carol Tobias (right) also spoke out against the training module
Lawmakers signed a letter blasting the US Army for labeling ‘several prominent and well-respected pro-life groups as violent extremists’ in a training session. (Pictured: a pro-life demo in June 2024 outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC)
Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, a Washington-based Christian conservative campaign group, also slammed the training slide.
‘This is insane! Beyond alarming. Being pro-life, peacefully advocating for the sanctity of human life, and attempting to stop the murder of unborn children makes you a terrorist?’ he wrote on X.
The US Army has not yet publicly responded to the backlash.