Victory: After ACLJ Demand Letter, Army Acknowledges That Operation Rescue Was Wrongly Called a Terrorist Group

We stand with Operation Rescue and other pro-life groups that have been wrongly targeted by the U.S. Army for being  “terrorist groups.” Because of our legal efforts, the Army has now issued a statement acknowledging that Operation Rescue is not a terrorist group and stating unequivocally that such a designation of pro-life groups was wrong and must never occur again.

We sent a demand letter to the Army when we discovered that the Army has been using training materials at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) that label pro-life groups, including our client Operation Rescue and anyone with a “Choose Life” license plate, as “terrorist groups.” As we explained when we first sent our letter:

The idea that those who stand for the sanctity of life – a fundamental tenet of many faiths and a constitutionally protected belief – could be equated with terrorists is not only factually incorrect but also represents a dangerous conflation of peaceful advocacy with violent extremism. This situation is reminiscent of past attempts by government entities to stigmatize and marginalize conservative and Christian viewpoints.

Our legal letter demanded that the Army immediately apologize and acknowledge in writing that none of the pro-life organizations it named are considered domestic terrorist organizations by the Army, including specifically our client, Operation Rescue. Without this, the threat and stigma of being identified as a terrorist organization remained.

Others have also demanded accountability, such as U.S. Representative Jim Banks (IN-3), who has led hearings and demanded that those responsible for this reprehensible conduct be held accountable. Initially, the Secretary of the Army released a statement that “National Right to Life and PETA are not terrorist groups,” but she specifically did not mention our client (Operation Rescue) and many other pro-life groups and individuals.

But after our demand letter and the work of Rep. Banks, the Army has issued a new “statement of U.S. Army policy” and sent us a copy of a letter it sent to Rep. Banks specifically stating that the U.S. Army does not, in fact, consider our client a terrorist group. This new statement, which finally acknowledged by name that Operation Rescue is not a terrorist group, stated that this training “inaccurately referenced non-profit public advocacy organizations National Right to Life, Operation Rescue, . . . as terrorist groups, which is inconsistent with the Army’s Antiterrorism policy and training.”

The Army claims that the individual who made this training added these references individually, through their own “open-source research.” The Army also claims that the slides were not reviewed or approved at any level of Fort Liberty leadership.

The ACLJ also issued Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Army. Our FOIA requests about what happened are ongoing, and we are even preparing to go to court over them if necessary.

However, the Army has acknowledged in its statement that “[a]pproximately 9,100 Soldiers augmenting installation access control points were trained using the presentation between 2017 and July 10, 2024.” In other words, at least 9,100 soldiers were warned that Operation Rescue is a terrorist organization. The Army has admitted that “Internal DES policy and standard operating procedure directing reviews or approval processes for this, or similar terror awareness presentations, were lacking.”

The Army has also acknowledged to Congress that “nonprofit groups such as those referenced in the training slides are not terrorist groups and should not be described as such in Army documents or training materials. The slides do not represent the official policy or views of the US Army.” The Army has finally admitted the error that was made and “that this incident has revealed a gap in our processes at the command level.” This is precisely what we demanded in our letter, and we celebrate this victory.

But the battle continues. Our FOIA requests continue to seek information about how far this process spread in the Army and who it affected. We urge all concerned citizens to join us in demanding transparency and accountability from the Army. The Army must be held accountable to ensure actions like this never occur again.