A new billboard placed outside a California military base by a veterans group is urging servicemembers to reject illegal orders from their superiors under the Trump administration.
“Active Duty & National Guard: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders,” reads the sign erected outside Naval Base San Diego, set against a snowy mountain range with a bald eagle. The billboard on Harbor Drive in Barrio Logan was placed by San Diego Veterans for Peace, which said in a statement Wednesday that its Hugh Thompson Memorial Chapter #91 aimed to remind active-duty troops of their duty to disobey any instruction they believed to be against the law.
An Instagram post by an activist affiliated with the group said the campaign was intended “to remind our brothers and sisters, sons and daughter[s] and grandchildren who have joined the military that they have the right and the responsibility to refuse illegal orders, and that we will support them when they do.” It cited as examples of illegal orders “unconstitutional” deployments to American cities, deployments to “illegal regime change wars,” orders to ship weapons to Israel for use against Palestinians, and orders to “attack civilians or to torture and kill prisoners of war.”
The sign follows a similar message displayed by Defiance.org and WhistleblowerAid.org near MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, Florida, in December, opposing the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats. Since then, the removal of Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela and the commencement of Operation Epic Fury, launching joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran, have increased pressure on the military.
The billboard echoes a controversial video last year featuring a group of senators and representatives with prior military experience, who also appealed to members of the Armed Forces to refuse unlawful orders. The group included Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly; Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin; Colorado Rep. Jason Crow; Pennsylvania Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander. Trump reacted angrily to the clip, accusing the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a post on Truth Social. The Department of Justice unsuccessfully attempted to have the group indicted by a grand jury, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to censure Kelly by demoting him from his retired rank of captain and cutting his retirement pay, a move thwarted in court.
