Air Force sued for withholding information on case of veteran who was assaulted for mentioning God in speech

A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Air Force for allegedly withholding information about the case of a retired veteran who was physically assaulted for mentioning God in a speech.

The nonprofit law firm First Liberty Institute filed the lawsuit on Thursday, claiming that the Air Force did not release the results of an investigation into the assault of decorated Air Force veteran Oscar Rodriguez, Jr.

According to the lawsuit, Rodriguez was physically dragged by several airmen out of an Air Force base in April 2016, for mentioning God during a flag folding ceremony speech.

"It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life," Rodriguez said in a press release last week.

"I have given more than three decades of service to the military and made many sacrifices for my country. To have the Air Force assault me and drag me out of a retirement ceremony simply because my speech included the word 'God' is something I never expected from our military," he added.

In December that year, First Liberty filed an FOIA request for information about the Air Force investigation into the assault.

Two investigations were conducted by the Air Force when First Liberty asserted that the incident violated the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights of Rodriguez.

The Air Force stated that it did not find any violation of rights in the investigation concerning the First Amendment claim, but it withheld the results of the second investigation for seven months, according to First Liberty.

Mike Berry, director of military affairs for First Liberty Institute, noted that federal law requires the government to make a determination within 20 days of an FOIA request, adding that it has been over 200 days since the law firm filed its request.

"They were very quick to release the first investigation that said they didn't do anything wrong, but have yet to release the results of the second investigation. Common sense would tell me they're holding onto the other investigation because it doesn't say there's no violation," Berry told The Gospel Herald.

First Liberty is hoping that the Air Force would release the results of the second investigation soon, and hold the airmen who assaulted Rodriguez responsible.

Berry said that the faith community should be concerned about the case because what happened to Rodriguez is a blatant violation of religious freedom.

In an interview with The Daily Caller, he said that he hoped the lawsuit has sent a message that the government cannot successfully conceal violations of the rights of American citizens.