PERRY, Ga. — The Marine Corps says it's investigating whether a Perry Marine violated military policies when he spoke at Donald Trump's Sept. 25 rally.
Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark, who recently returned from duty in Afghanistan, spoke on stage at that rally at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry.
While on stage, Clark claimed to be the Marine who who pulled a baby over a Kabul airport wall in a heart-wrenching video that went viral.
"I am the guy who pulled the baby over the wall," Clark said, "and it's definitely probably one of the greatest things I've ever done in my entire life."
A statement from the Marines questioned whether that was true and whether Clark should have been at the "Save America" rally in the first place.
Marine spokesman Capt. Kelton Cochran wrote:
"LCpl Hunter Clark was deployed with Battalion Landing Team 1/8, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to Hamid Karzai International Airport in support of the non-combatant evacuation operations that took place there. Regarding the viral photo that began circulating around August 20, 2021, the Marine identified in that particular image was not LCpl Clark.
The 24th MEU has initiated a command investigation regarding LCpl Clark’s attendance at the event on September 25, 2021 to determine if any DoD policies were violated. Any details pertaining to this incident are not releasable while the investigation is being conducted."
A statement headed "Guidance on Political Campaigns and Activity," posted to the Marines' website, says active-duty Marines may attend political rallies, but not in uniform. (Clark was not in uniform at the Trump event).
But they may not speak at political gatherings, like that rally, or take part in political fund-raising events.
Cochran did not explain how Marines determined that Clark was not the officer seen in the wall video, but his mother, Peggy Clark, took to Facebook this week to defend her son and attack Cochran's statement.
She wrote that her son was visible in the viral video, wearing a black glove and standing next to the Marine who lifted the Afghan baby.
Peggy Clark wrote that Cochran "lied to the media, and he has lied to the American people."
She said Hunter Clark will not comment while the investigation is underway.