27-year-old Marine Corporal Thae Ohu was released from confinement at the Navy Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake after being held since last June. Last April, Ms. Ohu garnered wide-spread attention when she attacked her boyfriend at the time, a Marine named Michael Hinesley. She'd entered his home with a key and started "screaming threats laced with profanities". The report then goes on to mention Ms. Ohu "grabbed a knife andrepeatedly stabbed a door behind which Hinesley stood".
Mr. Hinesley was left unharmed and Ms. Ohu was housed at the brig in Chesapeake when she again went to Mr. Hinesley's house. Michael insisted the charges againsts Thae should be dropped as she was suffering from the mental aftermath of a sexual assault back in 2015.
“From the very beginning I pleaded to her Commanding Officer for Thae’s care and I tried to help him understand that this was not her fault and she is a victim too that needs intervention, not jail time." wrote Michael in a Facebook group set up to support Ms. Ohu. Michael also claimed the military never asked him to tell his story of what happened with Thae."
According to an email from a spokesperson for the Marine Corps, Ms. Ohu plead guilty to lesser charges, such as aggravated assault on an intimate partner with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to 328 days.
Across the nation, there was outcry about the shocking treatment of Ms. Ohu, which in turn shed light on the major issue of how branches of the military treat those struggling with mental health. Ohu's family plead for her release so she can get mental health help the entire time she was incarcerated There was an online fundraiser, and people came together to show their support in Washington, D.C. and Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she grew up.
After Ms. Ohu's release, her family took to the internet to post a message on their website.
“Although we cannot and will not overlook the failures of the United States Marine Corps and DamNeck Leadership [sic], we are overjoyed Thae is released from their toxic control."
If you ask me, the treatment of those serving our country deserve far better treatment when they are suffering. It is wonderful Ms. Ohu is on the way to recovery, but it is sad her release into a proper treatment facility wasn't sooner. What are your thoughts?