Veterans Rally on Capitol Hill Urging Sen. John McCain, Other GOP Leaders to Un-Endorse Donald Trump

By MoveOn Staff. Friday, August 5 2016

100,000 Petition GOP Leaders to Disavow Donald Trump and His Attacks on Veterans

WASHINGTON DC — On Thursday, August 4th U.S. military veterans along with members of the veterans and military families organization Common Defense PAC, MoveOn.org and concerned Republicans delivered a petition to Sen. John McCain’s office on Capitol Hill, urging him and other GOP leaders to withdraw their endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump after Trump’s unrelenting attack on the Gold Star family of Humayun Khan, a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq.

The petition, started by Perry O’Brien of Common Defense, has been signed by nearly than 100,000 people since launching 24 hours ago. O’Brien served in Operation Enduring Freedom.

VIEW THE PETITION HERE: pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/join-fellow-veterans

“As an Operation Enduring Freedom veteran, I’m appalled at Trump’s disrespect for military families and his use of veterans as political props. In the army, I swore to protect the rights of every American. But Donald Trump wants to divide us, and his actions will put us in danger,” explained O’Brien in his petition on MoveOn.org. “If Republican leaders do not outright disavow Trump’s dangerous rhetoric, they are not only endorsing Donald Trump’s candidacy, but also his attacks on veterans.”

More information about the veterans who attended the petition delivery near Senator John McCain’s office:

• Mickiela Montoya, Army, Specialist (California) — Served for 8 years in the California Army National Guard & Army Reserves, including a deployment to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as a military police officer. Mickiela is also a mother and advocate for female Veterans, and has been featured on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, and others.
• Alexander McCoy, Marines, Sergeant (New York) — Sergeant McCoy served from 2008-2013 and deployed as an embassy guard at the U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia, Honduras, and Germany in support of the U.S. Department of State. He has published writing on foreign policy and veterans issues in the New York Times, Reuters, Huffington Post, Task & Purpose, as well as appeared as a guest on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC’s Tamron Hall Show, CNN “New Day” with Chris Cuomo, the Alan Colmes Show on Fox News Radio, BBC World Service Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, and American Radioworks.
• Crystal Cravens, Army, Sergeant (Colorado) — US Army, 4 years as a Signal System Support Specialist. Crystal is a mother and student, and recently organized a 300+ protest against Donald Trump’s recent rally at UCCS.
• Maricela Guzman, Navy, Petty Officer 2nd Class (California) — Maricela Guzman served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002 as a computer technician on the island of Diego Garcia, and later in Naples, Italy. She has been involved in significant advocacy work around combating Military Sexual Assault, of which she personally is a survivor. She is the daughter of formerly-undocumented immigrants.
• Jim Lyons, Navy, Nuclear Machinist Mate 2nd Class (Rhode Island) — Petty Officer Lyons served from 1982 through 1991 as a Nuclear Machinist Mate aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, including deployments in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Jim is proudly gay, and worked with Service Members United to help overturn Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
• Nate Terani, US Navy Intel (IS) and AZ Air Guard AIC, E-3/Seaman/Airman 1st Class (Arizona) — First Muslim American to be selected to serve in the US Navy Presidential Honor Guard, hand selected to serve as Special Assistant to the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, recruited by the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense HUMINT Service for CONUS Intelligence Operations. Has appeared on CNN and Fox Radio News. Member of Veterans for Peace and Veterans Challenge Islamophobia.

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