Judge Who Excluded 9/11 Confession Had Written on Military Extremism and Conservative Tendencies

Lt. Col. Michael Schrama, an Air Force judge specializing in military and environmental law, became the fifth judge assigned to the 9/11 military commission in 2025. His ruling last week to exclude Mohammed's 2007 confession — on the grounds that it was not given voluntarily — drew public attention to a 2023 essay he wrote for the national security publication "War on the Rocks."

In the essay, titled "Creating a Codified Legal Response to Domestic Extremism in the Ranks," Schrama argued for adding a new provision to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to address what he described as a "rising population of military members engaging in extremist activities." He wrote that "military institutions tend to become more conservative and isolated from civilian society" and that "these conservative tendencies are constantly reinforced, and young military members can be easy prey for the extreme right-wing groups that relate through similar conservative ideology."

To support his argument, Schrama cited a 2021 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which found that military personnel were responsible for 17.6% of domestic terrorism plots and attacks. He also noted that 12% of those charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot had some form of military experience. He further referenced a 2019 case in which a Coast Guard officer pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges after prosecutors said he had stockpiled weapons and planned to target Democratic politicians, Supreme Court justices, and TV journalists.