The charges included involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, assault, dereliction of duty, reckless endangerment, communicating a threat, maltreatment, and making a false official statement, the military said.
The crimes the soldiers are accused of committing seems to suggest that investigators believe the soldiers’ actions led Chen to commit suicide, not that they directly killed him.
“As the legal process continues, further information will be published as it becomes available,’’ the Army said in a statement.
The accused soldiers were members of the Third Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, First Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Staff Sergeant Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sergeant Adam M. Holcomb, Sergeant Jeffrey T. Hurst, Specialist Thomas P. Curtis, and Specialist Ryan J. Offutt were charged with involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, and assault consummated by battery, among other crimes, the statement said.
Lieutenant Daniel J. Schwartz, the only officer among the eight defendants, was charged with dereliction of duty, the Army said. Sergeant Travis F. Carden was charged with assault and maltreatment, and Staff Sergeant Blaine G. Dugas was charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement.
The soldiers are still in Afghanistan but have been relieved of their duties and confined to a different base, the military said. The next step is a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for courts-martial. The proceedings are expected to be held in Afghanistan.
News of the charges was praised by Chen’s relatives and friends and by advocates for the Chinese-American community who pressed the military to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the death and to improve the treatment of Asians in the military.
The soldiers “must be prosecuted,’’ said Elizabeth R. OuYang, president of the New York chapter of OCA, a civil rights group that has been working with the family.
