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A uniformed U.S. Army veteran has provoked anger among MAGA conservatives by joining a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Dallas, Texas, on Monday.
In a viral video recorded at the event, the soldier does not hold back in her criticism of President Donald Trump for activating 4,000 members of the National Guard and 700 Marines to help police the anti-ICE demonstrations that have raged in Los Angeles for five days and have since spread to other major American cities.
“We are not pawns for Donald Trump’s agenda,” the woman, wearing a camouflage uniform bearing the name tag “Colado,” says in the video shared by left-leaning X account BreakThrough News.
“Why now?” she continues. “It’s because the military was called upon against the protesters. In our oath to serve, we serve the people of the United States, the Constitution. These constitutional rights are being stripped and just denied.
“And the military will not be pawns to that. That’s why I’m calling on the conscience of military members who served previously and now. We have a conscience, we have a mind and we have a duty, a moral obligation to say no and resist.”
The Independent has contacted the Pentagon for its response to her comments.
Online, conservatives wasted no time in calling for the woman, subsequently identified as Carmen Colado, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, to be dishonorably discharged or court-martialled for publicly criticizing the commander-in-chief’s orders.
Some argued that her actions constituted a violation of the U.S. military’s Uniform Code of Military Justice and called for Article 15 to be invoked against her, which empowers a commanding officer to order nonjudicial punishments less severe than a court-martial.
These might include restrictions on duty, extra duty, forfeiture of pay, and, in some cases, confinement; however, since Colado appears to have left the service, it is unlikely to apply.
She describes herself on Instagram as the “proud daughter of an illegal immigrant hero who saved my life” and posts photos of friends and family, poetry, pencil drawings, and even a short film she has directed.
Her posts also include an inspirational quote from Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green, who was censured for interrupting President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress earlier this year, on the occasion of a Dallas protest march calling for immigration reform.
“To protect liberty and justice for all – to protect government of the people, by the people, for the people – to protect what this country has in its great and noble ideals, we have to do what is necessary,” Green’s quote reads.
