Heroic Navy Officer Timothy White to be Punished for Chattanooga Shooting: Facts

Story:

What’s happening to this heroic Navy officer from the Chattanooga shooting will make your blood BOIL.

Other Versions

1. Revealed: Navy Officer Did Something Heroic During Chattanooga Shooting, But May Be PUNISHED For It.

2. Navy to Prosecute Chattanooga Hero For Discharging Firearm on Federal Property.

Analysis:

The story in wide circulation on social media sites and elsewhere online states that Chattanooga hero, Navy officer Timothy White will be prosecuted for discharging firearm on Federal property. While it is a fact that the Chattanooga shooting incident is under investigation and review, as of this writing, the U.S Navy says no official is charged with an offense.

Background of Incident

On 16 July 2015, during the ISIS supporter’s attack on the Chattanooga U.S. Naval and Marine Reserve Center, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez killed four marines and one sailor with a handgun and an assault rifle. Navy officer Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White and a Marine fought to take out the gunman. Timothy White confirmed that he used his personal firearm on Federal property in an attempt to stop the Chattanooga gunman Abdulazeez.

Origin of Story

The story that the heroic Navy officer from the Chattanooga shooting will be punished for using gun on federal property appeared in many web sources in early August 2015, following which Timothy White was caught up with wide attention of people on social media sites. The story, however, originated from a 1st August 2015 article on the personal website of a former congressman and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West (allenbwest.com). In his article, Allen West talked about couple of sources that mentioned the possibility of punishment (not confirmed) for the Navy official Timothy White. And more importantly, he went on to say he received a text message confirming that the United States Navy is bringing charges against Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White for illegally discharging a firearm on federal property. Furthermore, he urged his readers to flood the phones of SecNav Ray Mabus and SecDef Ash Carter, demanding to drop the charges against Timothy White immediately. And if that not done, Allen West said he will personally lead the charge to have Carter and Mabus removed from their positions. Because of all this “criticism”, the story got considerable media attention.

U.S Navy Response

Responding to the questions that the heroic Navy officer Timothy White will be punished for Chattanooga shooting, the U.S Navy on their official Facebook page explained that investigation is going on and as of 2nd August 2015, no service member has been charged with an offense:

“Stories of Navy personnel being charged with an offense are not true. There is still a long way to go in reviewing the facts of this tragic incident, but at this time we can confirm no service member has been charged with an offense.”

Screenshot of U.S Navy Response on Facebook

A spokesman for the U.S. Navy also denied the reports that disciplinary charges will be filed against Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White for discharging an unauthorized weapon on federal property. Following the consequences of Chattanooga shooting incident, as suggested in an article on The Wall Street Journal website wsj.com, the policy could also be changing and Pentagon could allow more military personnel to carry guns. So we have to wait for the investigation process to complete and see if Timothy White will be charged or not.