Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has nullified an Army investigation into the unauthorised helicopter flybys of musician Kid Rock’s estate and anti-Trump protests in Tennessee over the weekend, announcing the move just hours after military officials opened their disciplinary review of the soldiers involved.
“No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, Patriots,” Hegseth wrote on social media.
Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert Ritchie, is an enthusiastic, longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, and he is widely admired among the President’s political base. Hegseth’s swift intervention in the case raised immediate questions about whether the military can hold its own accountable for actions that Hegseth may deem politically favourable.
The Army, meanwhile, has faced glaring questions about how it operates in US airspace after a collision last year between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet that killed 67 people near Reagan National Airport just outside DC.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident occurred on Saturday, when two Apache helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade flew over the No Kings demonstrations – part of a nationwide protest of policies advanced by the Trump administration – before continuing on to Kid Rock’s home in Whites Creek, a suburb of Nashville.
The musician shared a video of the encounter in a social media post that has accumulated millions of views. As one of the Apaches hovers off his pool deck, he can be seen saluting the pilots – a gesture the soldiers appear to return.
This is a level of respect that shit for brains Governor of California will never know. God Bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her. 🇺🇸 🙏 pic.twitter.com/iD5mmkaXv1
— KidRock (@KidRock) March 28, 2026
Earlier on Tuesday, Army officials had said the Apache pilots were suspended while officials investigated the incident.
“The Army takes any allegations of unauthorised or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable,” it said in a statement.
Hegseth’s decision, effectively exonerating the pilots before the facts could be ascertained, appeared to contradict remarks made earlier Tuesday by Trump, who told reporters at the White House that the aircrews “probably should not have been doing it”.
“You’re not supposed to be playing games, right?” the President said, adding that he intended to look into the incident. “Maybe,” he added in jest, “they were trying to defend him.”
Army officials said it was not immediately clear whether the flight path over the No Kings protesters was a coincidence or involved a deviation from the Apaches’ prescribed flight plans.
Within about two hours on Saturday, one of the helicopters flew by demonstrators six times at McGregor Park in Clarksville, Tennessee, dipping as low as 190m, according to publicly available flight data. At one point, the aircraft briefly circled an area where protesters were gathered.
The Apaches – based northwest of Nashville at Fort Campbell, an Army post that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line – were not assigned to monitor or otherwise disrupt the demonstrations, an Army spokesman said this week. The crews were flying a training mission, and a flyby at Ritchie’s home was not part of that mission either or an Army-sanctioned outreach event, nor did he request it, the spokesman, Major Jonathon Bless, said on Monday.
The helicopter crew members, who have not been publicly identified, are assigned to 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a highly sensitive situation. One of the soldiers involved was the unit’s commander, the officials said. The commander is responsible for setting the tone for discipline and professionalism for hundreds of soldiers.
Bless, the unit’s spokesman, declined to discuss the commander’s role in the incident.
Andrew Ba Tran contributed to this report.
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