The USS Theodore Roosevelt’s former commander, Navy Captain Brett Crozier, has reported to have tested positive for coronavirus before being relieved of his command. Two of Crozier’s friends informed the New York Times that Crozier was showing symptoms related to the coronavirus before being removed from Theordore Roosevelt on Thursday.

Crozier was fired from his command by Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, after a memo Crozier wrote to the Navy’s leadership. The memo, which leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, requested that sailors be removed quicker in Guam due to an outbreak aboard the Theordore Roosevelt.

A statement later released by Secretary Modly attempted to clarify the firing of Crozier. Modly asserts that Crozier was not let go for raising concerns over the safety of the ship’s crewman; he was fired for the way he went about it. He was stating that Crozier emailed the memo over an unsecured system and including more than 20 individuals on the cc. Some of the 20 individuals were outside of Crozier’s chain of command. Also, Captain Crozier did not bring this concern to his own direct superior, who was also aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and who’s living quarters were directly down the hall from Crozier’s.

On Friday, multiple videos surfaced of Crozier’s departure from the ship while hundreds of his crew members gathered to see him off while cheering. “Captain Crozier!”

There were no indicative signs of Crozier being positive for COVID-19 cause the Times report to be somewhat of a surprise to some this Sunday.

His memo was dated March 30, 2020 (Monday), and was leaked to the Chronicle the following day. Crozier was released that Thursday (April 2) following the leak. It is still unclear if Crozier himself had symptoms of being infected by coronavirus while penning his memo.

“It is unclear when he was first tested for COVID-19 or when he received his results,” per the New York Times. A spokesman for the US Navy informed the New York Times that Crozier was reassigned to the Naval Air Forces Pacific based in San Diego, before his command begins there he must first go under quarantine in Guam.

Democrats immediately began to cry “foul” over Crozier, being relieved from his duties aboard the USS TD. Some Democrat representatives have aggressively voiced that this an “overreaction” by the Trump administration, even though Crozier’s firing comes solely at the discretion of Modly. Although Democrats concede that Crozier clearly broke his chain of command and did not follow the proper protocol while under pressure from the outbreak, they still claim it’s an “overreaction.”

Joe Biden went as far as to call it “close to criminal” while laying the blame on Trump’s administration.

On Friday, President Trump stated that he backed and supported Modly’s decision while adding that the USS Theodore Roosevelt should have never made an unnecessary port visit in Vietnam a couple of weeks ago.

Navy leadership had formerly supported that choice, stating that there were only 16 registered cases of coronavirus at the time of their port visit. Adding that those 16 cases were further up north, further defending their decision to stop.