[THEHILL] Veteran Affairs (VA) Secretary David Shulkin on Monday said he does not consider the former Air Force service member identified as the gunman in a Texas mass shooting as a veteran, and that he would not have had access to mental health help from the department."I do not consider him a veteran. That would give him much more respect than he deserves," Shulkin said of Devin Kelley, whom law enforcement identified as the gunman in a church shooting Sunday in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Kelley had served in the Air Force in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico beginning in 2010, but was court-martialed in 2012 for an assault on his then-wife and child. He was sentenced to 12 months confinement, received a reduction in rank and was discharged in 2014 for "bad conduct," according to the Air Force.
"He is a criminal and I think that he was convicted and with a dishonorable discharge does not deserve to have the same title as the men and women who have served this country and have honorably been discharged," Shulkin said during remarks at the National Press Club in Washington.
Shulkin said there is a distinction between those who have received an other than honorable discharge and those who have received a dishonorable discharge. Those with the former, he said, "we do believe are in need of our assistance and help, particularly with mental illness."
"Those dishonorable discharged have violated the law, have violated our morals and ethics, and I do not believe deserve the types of services and benefits and VA would not be providing those benefits," Shulkin explained.
"This is not a person who has ever been treated in the VA system and would not be eligible for those benefits," he said.
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