A man accused of donning an Army uniform and posing as a decorated Ranger during a Black Friday shopping trip to a Philadelphia mall — and whose confrontation with a military official was recorded on a video that’s since gone viral — could possibly face criminal charges.
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a lawmaker for the Middletown district in Pennsylvania, has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger to see if the faker — who introduces himself as Shawn in the video and whose last name is ostensibly displayed on the patch on his uniform — could be charged with violations of the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, if it’s proven that he was faking his service, the Bucks County Courier-Times reported.
The law, co-sponsored by Mr. Fitzpatrick, criminalizes the act of portraying one self as the recipient of military medals if the intent of doing so is to obtain money, property or another “tangible benefit,” the text states. Stores sometimes give members of the military discounts for their service.
It’s not yet clear if the man in the mall was faking his military service.
But a video that’s been seen more than 1.5 million times since Black Friday shows him fielding several questions from Northampton resident Ryan Berk, 26. Mr. Berk recorded the encounter and said he’s actually served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.
Mr. Berk, who’s studying criminal justice at Temple University — and who earned a Purple Heart after he was injured by shrapnel during a fire-fight in Afghanistan — said he came across the man in Army fatigues while shopping in a shoe store, the Bucks County Courier-Times said.
Mr. Berk said he moved in a little closer to the man, and then noticed “little things” off about his uniform — for instance, the bootlaces weren’t properly tied, the American flag patch wasn’t properly spaced on the sleeve, the combat patch was missing, the newspaper said.
Mr. Berk said he then overheard the man talking to a small boy about his purported military service, and his curiosity grew.
“I was getting aggravated,” he said, the Bucks County Courier-Times reported. “I knew 100 percent he was fake but I didn’t want to put him on 100 percent blast immediately.”
Mr. Berk said he then followed the man from the store and called him over, hitting his record button on his phone as he introduced himself. The man said his name was Shawn and claimed he was a staff sergeant with the 75th U.S. Army Rangers Regiment, 2nd Battalion, out of Washington State, the video revealed.
The man also said, the video showed: “I’m what’s called a TAC-1. All I do is I go out on missions.”
That’s when Mr. Berk started firing questions at him — and outed him as a fake.
The man, however, stood by his military claims and in several moments of tense verbal exchange, said he would go get his sergeant major, who was shopping with him in the mall, to prove his service was real.
“If I was a phony, then I wouldn’t be wearing this uniform,” he also said, shortly before walking away from Mr. Berk, the video revealed.
Mr. Berk said the man was obviously a phony, though, and could not even adequately explain the reasons for his receipt of several of his badges on his uniform.
“He’s impersonating in the uniform people died from,” Mr. Berk said, the Bucks County Courier-Times reported. “He was wearing awards that I earned and he didn’t.”
Mr. Berk also shouted “stolen valor” at the man several times as he walked away.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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