Vanessa Guillen murder: Female Air Force Lt. Col. slammed for implying sexual assault is 'price of admission'
A female Air Force Lt. Col. faced backlash for suggesting that sexual harassment is "the price of admission" for women in the army and "if you're gonna cry like a snowflake about it, you're gonna pay the price," referring to the murder of soldier Vanessa Guillen.
The controversial remarks were made by Air Force Lt. Col. Betsy Schoeller in the comments section of a shared article about Guillen, the missing soldier who was bludgeoned to death shortly after she revealed to her loved ones that she was being sexually harassed by a senior.
Schoeller rebuffed other social media users for expressing sympathy towards Guillen. "You guys are kidding, right? Sexual harassment is the price of admission for women into the good ole boy club," the military veteran, who is now a senior lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, wrote. "If you're gonna cry like a snowflake about it, you're gonna pay the price."
The comments came just hours after Guillen's family attorney revealed that the 20-year-old soldier had been bludgeoned to death with a hammer in the armory room where she worked.
Schoeller's post has since been taken down, but the outrage has led to a Change.org petition demanding she is fired from her University of Wisconsin position. "Incredible - I can't believe what I'm reading. Where does she get off saying something like that?! This woman was bludgeoned, hacked up, and buried in a shallow grave!" one comment read.
The lieutenant colonel was also slammed for being a part of the problem that sexual harassment of women was so entrenched in the armed forces. "This is like the whole 'girls can’t wear revealing clothing because men can’t control their urges' on a whole other level," another wrote. "Gahhhh so many swear words are flying around my head."
Meanwhile, a fellow veteran agreed that it was such behavior that encouraged sexual harassment. "I spent literally half my career handling sexual assault/harassment charges for sailors," they said. "Leaders like her not only encourage harassment, they protect predators. This is not a mentality she left with her uniform. She brought it with her."
A number of social media users pointed out she had a responsibility, owing to her high rank, to address issues of harassment within the Air Force.
Schoeller is pictured in one image meeting Michelle Obama in 2012 when the then-First Lady met with family members of victims of a Sikh temple shooting.
Guillen was last seen alive on April 22 at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas. More than two months after she went missing, her partial remains were finally found Tuesday near the Leon River in Bell County.
It was found that 20-year-old US Army Specialist Aaron Robinson had bludgeoned her to death with a hammer on April 22, according to an FBI criminal complaint released Thursday. He ended his life just hours after Guillen's body was discovered on Wednesday. Robinson reportedly fled Fort Hood Tuesday night, but Army criminal investigators caught up with him a few miles from the base early Wednesday morning. However, he killed himself as authorities tried to confront him. "As officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, the suspect displayed a weapon and discharged it toward himself. The suspect succumbed from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Killeen Police Department said in a statement.
