Over 120,000 sign online petition to reinstate U.S. Navy carrier
commander
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[April 04, 2020]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than
120,000 people have signed a petition calling on the U.S. Navy to
reinstate the captain of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier a day
after he was relieved of his command for a letter sent to superiors
urging stronger measures to halt the outbreak.
Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of his command of the USS Theodore
Roosevelt on Thursday after a scathing letter in which he called on the
Navy to take "decisive action" to halt the spread of the virus aboard
the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was leaked to the media.
"His actions possibly saved many lives," the online petition said.
"Although he was fired, his plan to safely remove crew members was still
implemented. He is a hero who should be rewarded."

On Friday, one day after the launch of the petition on Change.org, over
123,000 people had signed, well on the way to the goal of 150,000.
The removal of Crozier, first reported by Reuters, was announced by
acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who said the senior officer of
the nuclear-powered vessel of 5,000 crew members had exercised poor
judgment in the way he "broadly" distributed his letter.
Even as he was hailed as a hero by his crew as he left the ship, Crozier
was to be reassigned while investigators consider whether he should face
disciplinary action, Modly told Reuters on Friday.
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Captain Brett Crozier, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy aircraft
carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, addresses the crew during an
all-hands call on the ship’s flight deck in the eastern Pacific
Ocean December 19, 2019. U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd
Class Nicholas Huynh/Handout via REUTERS

Crozier called for removing more than 4,000 sailors from the ship
and isolating them, and wrote that unless the Navy acted immediately
it would be failing to properly safeguard "our most trusted asset -
our sailors."
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Editing by Mary
Milliken and Matthew Lewis)
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