Montana GOP Senate candidate says he lied to ranger about gunshot wound in 2015
Last edited Sat Apr 6, 2024, 03:34 PM - Edit history (4)
Source: Washington Post
Montana GOP Senate candidate says he lied to ranger about gunshot wound in 2015
Tim Sheehy was cited for illegally discharging a weapon in a national park but says he made up the gunshot to cover up a bullet wound he received as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan that he never reported to superiors
By Liz Goodwin
April 6, 2024 at 1:41 p.m. EDT
Tim Sheehy, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, talks about his campaign on Feb. 9 in Helena, Mont. (Matthew Brown/AP)
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Tim Sheehy, a charismatic former Navy SEAL who is the Republican candidate in a U.S. Senate race in Montana that could determine control of the chamber, has cited a gunshot wound he received in combat that he said left a bullet in his right arm as evidence of his toughness.
"I got thick skin -- though it's not thick enough. I have a bullet stuck in this arm still from Afghanistan," Sheehy said in a video of a December campaign event posted on social media, pointing to his right forearm. ... It was one of several inconsistent accounts Sheehy has shared about being shot while deployed. And in October 2015, more than a year after he left active duty, he told a different story.
After a family visit to Montana's Glacier National Park, he told a National Park Service ranger that he accidentally shot himself in the right arm that day after his Colt .45 revolver fell and discharged while he was loading his vehicle in the park, according to a record of the episode filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
The self-inflicted gunshot left a bullet lodged in Sheehy's right forearm, according to the written description accompanying the federal citation that the ranger, a federal law enforcement officer, gave Sheehy for illegally discharging his weapon in a national park. The citation said the description was based on Sheehy's telling of events. {snip} "I guess the only thing I'm guilty of is admitting to doing something I never did," Sheehy said of paying a $525 fine for illegally discharging his weapon in the national park; he now says the gun never went off in the park. He added of his platoonmates: "It was a small price to pay to make sure that a whole team of really great Americans didn't get dragged through the mud over this."
{snip}
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By Liz Goodwin
Liz Goodwin covers Congress for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2022, Goodwin covered national politics and served as Washington bureau chief for the Boston Globe. Twitter https://twitter.com/@lizcgoodwin
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/06/tim-sheehy-montana-senate-gunshot-wound-national-park/
A park ranger can easily tell the difference between a fresh gunshot wound and one that was years old. Someone heard a shot and reported it; otherwise the ranger would not have responded to the scene.
The story goes on at length. You've got a link to it.
Which story do you believe? The 2015 self-injury story or the war would story?
paleotn
(17,939 posts)WhiteTara
(29,721 posts)fits in well with many other republicans because he lies like many of them do.
paleotn
(17,939 posts)He carried a bullet in his arm and didn't worry about infection and other complications? Gave up a purple heart because he didn't want to report it? Weird. William of Occam and his razor says...nah.
Mysterian
(4,589 posts)Every person with a brain should know this by now.
rsdsharp
(9,195 posts)and he told the ranger hed just shot himself to cover up a war wound. This guy is a special kind of stupid, or believes the voters are.
prodigitalson
(2,428 posts)that's really what that story says
dchill
(38,517 posts)...when are Republicans.
jvill
(219 posts)But you gotta appreciate his desire to keep his platoonmates from getting dragged through the mud because... Sheehy is a weird and whacky liar who needlessly makes things up for no apparent reason...?
Who knows what happened... I'm gonna guess he shot himself accidentally in Afghanistan...
mahina
(17,693 posts)But Iʻm leaning toward he shot himself by accident and didnt want that getting out because he sounds like a dumbass.
Which he does anyway, because what kind of a dumbass lets a gunshot wound with a bullet lodged in his body go untreated
why ??
I really deeply hope John Tester prevails.
IbogaProject
(2,827 posts)I'm kind of angry he qualifies for any kind of VA Health care.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Why would someone honorably discharged from the military not be eligible for the VA?
IbogaProject
(2,827 posts)I was referring to that he was claiming an illegal discharge of a gun leading to injury now being claimed as from "war". He was clearly injured after illegally bringing a loaded gun into a park or forest. That all begs the question around his 'honor'.
paleotn
(17,939 posts)I think he shot himself in a national park years later and was able to get medical treatment without a gun shot report being made. Regardless, he's a nut like all current Republicans. If somehow, someway it did happen in the Stan, that's not tough. That's fucking stupid.
Mawspam2
(738 posts)...but never reported it? Aversion to purple hearts?
Was he bleeding when cited by the Park Ranger in 2015? A year after he mustered out? Any hospital records of this?
More stolen valor by a whackadoodle Trumper? Did he really serve as a Seal or was he just a low-level grunt? Did he even go to Afghanistan as a member of the US Military?
Questions must be answered and fact checked.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Seems unlike he wouldn't have been outed by now if that was the case.
All I was able to find was this:
graduated at the top of his U.S. Naval Academy and Army Ranger School classes, sustained multiple injuries while serving in the Navy, and ultimately was medically separated from the military in 2014. The next year, Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke also a former SEAL awarded Sheehy a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, the first time the two met, according to Sheehys campaign.
He completed several deployments and hundreds of missions as a Navy SEAL Officer and Team Leader, deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan, South America, and the Pacific region. Sheehy was involved in dozens of engagements with enemy forces, earning him multiple combat decorations, including the Bronze Star with Valor for Heroism in Combat and the Purple Heart Medal.
A graduate of the Naval Academy class of 2008, he was the first Midshipman to participate in the U.S. Army Special Operations exchange program and the first to graduate from the elite U.S. Army Ranger School. Immediately after graduation, Sheehy was commissioned into the U.S. Navy and completed SEAL training.
niyad
(113,525 posts)personnel file. If he was "medically discharged" one would think somebody might have noticed an extra bullet or wound.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)niyad
(113,525 posts)of that material. But do keep trying. I need the laughs with this absurd story.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Is the theory his opposition did zero research nor anyone else? Highly unlikely a serving Congressman claims to have be a Navy SEAL and wasn't.
niyad
(113,525 posts)"army ranger", for one.
Citations are useful pieces of information, so I do not understand your apparent aversion to them.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)You're free to Google his name and read the top few new stories like I did.
I didn't save the links.
If he went through ranger training he would indeed have a ranger tab.
70sEraVet
(3,508 posts)The fabrications look familiar.
jalan48
(13,881 posts)TeamProg
(6,201 posts)truthisfreedom
(23,152 posts)Second, I think hes a great candidate for them to be distracted by. Hes a walking talking shitshow.
swag
(26,488 posts)Makes me even happier about my monthly donations to camp Tester.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/testerforsenate
oasis
(49,400 posts)part of him kick in?
niyad
(113,525 posts)Afghanistan?
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,580 posts)On board were 22 Navy SEALs, rushing to support troops in firefight.
By MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER
August 6, 2011, 8:17 AM ET 3 min read
Aug. 6, 2011 -- A helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents as it was rushing to aid troops in a firefight, killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, most of whom belonged to Team 6, the unit whose members were involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said.
The Chinook helicopter was carrying a quick-reaction force to provide back-up to the troops on the ground in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak, a U.S. official said. After the crash, the forces that were involved in the firefight "broke contact" with the enemy so they could go provide perimeter security for the crash site, the official said.
{snip}
Saturday's deaths bring the total number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan to 334 this year, according to the Associated Press.
The last worst one-day U.S. casuality record in Afghanistan was on June 28, 2005 when 16 U.S. soldiers were killed in Kunar province after a helicopter was shot down by Taliban insurgents.
{snip}
niyad
(113,525 posts)EX500rider
(10,849 posts)NanaCat
(1,231 posts)And nobody in his platoon noticed his arm bleeding? Does this nitwit really think he could get by with covering the wound with a plaster, and not a major wrapping to stanch the bleeding?
Or that he wouldn't have been crying non-stop to his platoon about getting hurt, like all cowards do?
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Silent Type
(2,935 posts)laughing it up as they threatened to beat the blindfolded/handcuffed/bloody Iraqi.
That's the very definition of cowardice in my mind.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Seems like you have possible cruelty and cowardice confused.
Although I can't even say that for sure, was he a wanted terrorist or IED bomber who fought during his capture?
"blindfolded/handcuffed" is not a unusual was to keep a prisoner until he reached holding.
My major memory of SEAL Team members is more like this:
Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor
Monsoor was standing ready for the attack when an unseen insurgent on the ground lobbed a grenade onto the rooftop. The grenade hit and bounced off of Monsoor's chest. The two other SEALs in the position were covering other sectors and unaware of what had happened.
Monsoor was the only one who could have escaped the grenade, but he instead jumped on it, sacrificing himself to save his two teammates. He later died of his wounds.
US Navy Lt. Michael Murphy
After the SEALs set up their observation post close to their insertion point and to a village, some shepherds discovered their position. After a debate among themselves, the SEALs decided to let the shepherds live and started exfiltrating the area.
But the enemy was on their heels. Two SEALs were killed in the ensuing firefight, and because of the high mountains surrounding the valley, the SEALs couldn't contact their headquarters and alert them of their situation.
So a wounded Murphy stepped into the open and used his satellite phone to notify his superiors. He suffered mortal wounds but completed the call while firing at the enemy, a last act of selfless valor that earned him the Medal of Honor.
Silent Type
(2,935 posts)The Iraqi was about 5 feet tall and the SEALs were yuking it up taking photos to send home to their wives/girlfriends to bind for a coffee table book.
Do you not remember the photos? Plenty more.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Not sure I see where they "threatening to hit him again"
Were they saying it in Arabic so he understood them?
As for any cause for celebration, SEAL Teams are usually tasked with hunting down high level targets, they may be happy they have caught one they have been after for awhile.
He could be a Al-Qaeda or Baathist bomb maker responsible for 100's of US casualties for all I know & I suspect all you know.
Though they have alarmed SEAL commanders, the photographs found by the AP do not necessarily show anything illegal, according to experts in the laws of war who reviewed photos at AP's request.
Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches at the United States Military Academy, said the images showed "stupid" and "juvenile" behavior but not necessarily a crime.
Silent Type
(2,935 posts)EX500rider
(10,849 posts)No one gets to be a Tier 1 Operator who is a "wuss" and zero wusses make it through SEAL training.
The attrition rate for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, which is the initial training program for Navy SEALs, is notoriously high. While exact figures may vary from year to year, it is widely reported that around 75% of candidates do not successfully complete the training
Silent Type
(2,935 posts)You can worship them and Eddie G if you like.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Quite common for captured terrorists to have wounds from the fight that lead up to their capture.
2naSalit
(86,765 posts)Can't even make up a half believable lie.
He's basically djtj without the cocaine.
niyad
(113,525 posts)Has anybody actually seen his military file? His DD214, or whatever the navy uses?
Scruffy1
(3,256 posts)He could just have said I broke the law and was fined and learned my lesson. Instead he invents a unbelieve story that you might expect from an 8 year old. No gun that I know of built in the 60 years or so can go off from loading luggage if standard practices are followed.
Mysterian
(4,589 posts)You were wounded in action but didn't tell anyone about it.... then for some reason you lied to a park ranger about accidentally shooting yourself. What a fucking moron. Typical republican lying his ass off.
niyad
(113,525 posts)congress get to decide to award a purple heart, or a bronze star? Or was that just sloppy writing (congressman zinke awarded him. .)??? I was just reading through the regs, and can find nothing about that.
Mysterian
(4,589 posts)An awardee could have someone outside the chain of command present the award to them in a ceremony, but the presenter is not the person who authorized the award.
niyad
(113,525 posts)remembered, which was why that sentence surprised me. I despise zinke.
Stuart G
(38,439 posts)niyad
(113,525 posts)current congress.
AkFemDem
(1,833 posts)1. Was shot in Afghanistan under really shady circumstances (eg. a drunken brawl, an unauthorized "mission", etc), covered it up, and the incident at the park is exactly as he reports now.
or
2. Was not shot in Afghanistan, and attempted to use the park injury as a prop in his political campaign with a BS service story and was busted and is lying through his teeth (badly) to cover that up now.
Neither of the above is a good look, both are self-serving, and both show he can not be trusted.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,580 posts)The Montana GOP Senate candidate said this month that he lied about accidentally shooting himself at Glacier National Park
By Liz Goodwin
April 17, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
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Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy apologized and asked for leniency in 2015 after he said a gun he kept in his vehicle for bear protection fell and discharged, striking him in his right forearm in Glacier National Park, according to new National Park Service documents released through a Freedom of Information Act request. ... The new documents, which provide additional detail about an incident first reported by The Washington Post this month, include a detailed written statement from Sheehy to a law enforcement officer regarding Sheehy having accidentally shot himself on Oct. 18, 2015 an account that he now says was a lie.
As a highly trained and combat experienced wounded veteran, I can assure you this was an unfortunate accident and we are grateful no other persons or property were damaged, Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, said in the 2015 statement apologizing for illegally discharging his weapon in the park. Due to my ongoing security clearance and involvement with national defense related contracts, I request leniency with any charges related to this unfortunate accident. ... Sheehy, who has told voters he has a bullet in his arm from his time serving in Afghanistan, told The Post he made up the 2015 accidental gunshot story on that October day to cover up a wound he says he received in a 2012 firefight in Afghanistan.
A National Park Service summary of the incident, which was also included in the newly released documents, says an unidentified park visitor reported an accidental gun discharge in Logan Pass. That differs from Sheehys current account, that law enforcement was first contacted by personnel at a hospital that treated him for wounds that he now says he received from falling during a hike. The summary does not identify the park visitor who made the report of a gun discharge.
Sheehy, a decorated war veteran, is favored to win the GOP nomination to take on the vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in the red state, which is key to Republicans plan to take control of the chamber.
{snip}
Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report.
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By Liz Goodwin
Liz Goodwin covers Congress for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2022, Goodwin covered national politics and served as Washington bureau chief for the Boston Globe. Twitter https://twitter.com/lizcgoodwin
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,580 posts)How the right wing responded to Tim Sheehys bullet wound story
Conservatives rally to former SEAL and would-be senators defense.
by Arren Kimbel-Sannit
04.12.2024
Republican Tim Sheehy announced his bid for U.S. Senate in 2024 on Tuesday. Credit: Courtesy / Tim Sheehy for Montana
If the Washington Posts revelation that Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy lied to a Glacier National Park ranger about the origin of a bullet wound in his arm and that he has repeated several different versions of his combat injury history in different settings caused any second thoughts among Sheehys supporter or among Republicans more broadly, theyre not showing it.
Rather, Sheehy responded to the story by attacking the Washington Post and invoking his status as a veteran to claim unfair treatment, and the rest of the conservative sphere has followed suit. That became most apparent when the Sheehy campaign published on social media screenshots of emails from Post reporters working on a follow-up story that was published Friday.
The smear artists @washingtonpost are writing yet another hit piece attacking me for serving my country even asking questions about my medical history and demanding my personal records. Im done playing the liberal medias game heres how DC reporters treat veterans, Sheehy posted on X.
Link to tweet
{snip}
ARREN KIMBEL-SANNIT
akimbel@montanafreepress.org
Raised in Arizona, Arren is no stranger to the issues impacting Western states, having a keen interest in the politics of land, transportation and housing. Prior to moving to Montana, Arren was a statehouse reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times and covered agricultural and trade policy for Politico in Washington, D.C. In Montana, he has carved out a niche in shoe-leather heavy muckraking based on public documents and deep sourcing that keeps elected officials uncomfortable and the public better informed. More by Arren Kimbel-Sannit
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,580 posts)U.S. Senate hopefuls company reported losses of more than $77 million in 2023
SEC filing shows Tim Sheehys Bridger Aerospace is deeply in the red.
by Arren Kimbel-Sannit
04.09.2024
Republican Tim Sheehy announced his bid for U.S. Senate in 2024 on Tuesday. Credit: Courtesy / Tim Sheehy for Montana
Bridger Aerospace, the Gallatin County-based aerial firefighting company founded by Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy, announced a record-high annual revenue of almost $67 million when it released its 2023 earnings report last month. ... But the annual report the publicly traded company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also shows that Bridger is deeply in debt, hemorrhaging cash and at risk of failing to meet its financial obligations in the coming year.
The Company has suffered recurring losses from operations, operating cash flow deficits, debt covenant violations, and insufficient liquidity to fund its operations that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern, Bridgers auditor said in a note to stockholders and the board of directors. ... Or, as University of Montana accounting professor Terri Herron put it in an interview with Montana Free Press: Management concluded that they may not be around in a year.
Thats in part because Bridger reported a net loss of $77.4 million in 2023, a hole more than $30 million deeper than the previous year, according to its annual filing. The companys current assets total about $45 million only about $23 million of which is in the form of unrestricted cash or cash equivalents down from $107 million the year before. Of course, growing a company costs money, and the companys operational expenses also increased in 2023 as it purchased new aircraft through a joint venture partnership in Spain. It reports that its adjusted EBITDA a figure that attempts to show a normalized version of a companys cash position without one-time or other irregular expenditures is slated to grow by 80% in the next year. Federal and state contracts were responsible for about 88% of the companys total revenue in 2023.
The Spanish transaction took multiple years to execute and positions the Company to meaningfully expand our Scooper fleet, providing growth for years to come, Sheehy said in a note to investors, adding that Bridger is well positioned for 2024.
{snip}
ARREN KIMBEL-SANNIT
akimbel@montanafreepress.org
Raised in Arizona, Arren is no stranger to the issues impacting Western states, having a keen interest in the politics of land, transportation and housing. Prior to moving to Montana, Arren was a statehouse reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times and covered agricultural and trade policy for Politico in Washington, D.C. In Montana, he has carved out a niche in shoe-leather heavy muckraking based on public documents and deep sourcing that keeps elected officials uncomfortable and the public better informed. More by Arren Kimbel-Sannit