But the service declined to disclose what investigators found, how Rapone had been disciplined, or even if he has been allowed to stay in the service. In this case, it came from Altmire, who served as a membr of Congress in Pennsylvanias 4th congressional district from 2007 to 2013. Nearly a year ago, the story of Army Lieutenant Spenser Rapone was a big item. The Communist West Point Grad's Father Isn't too Happy with - RedState Many other military personnel also tweeted in favor of Kaepernick, although most were supporting free speech, not communism. New cadets are outfitted with their initial issue of military clothing, receive haircuts and get their first lessons in marching, military courtesy and discipline. Ithink thats acrucial part of it and why Idid what Idid. But he wasnt accepted to West Point, so Rapone enlisted in the Army. Then, theres anumber of people who Icant name because they might face repression themselves, but anumber of active-duty service members and enlisted soldiers who Im trying to help work through things and counsel them and hopefully inspire them to take the measures to stop serving the AmericanEmpire. We have one of the most technologically advanced militaries of all time and all we were doing is brutalizing and invading and terrorizing a population that had nothing to do with what the United States claimed was a threat.. Lt. Rapone, a member of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, first drew attention when he tweeted an image from his Twitter account, @punkproletarian, with "Communism Will Win". Sign up to become a Sustainer before the deadline and take advantage of our best offer ever. With all their political gamesmanship, lawmakers forget that real human lives are often on the line. His social media accounts were at one point set to private after his photos went viral. According to popularmilitary.com, Rapone, 25, from New Castle, Pennsylvania, first enlisted in the Army in 2010 and was assigned to Fort Benning for basic training and infantry training. Can you describe the backlash you experienced afterthat? You go to football games and they bring troops out on the field. Whatever happened to that communist lieutenant? The Army won't say. And Marco Rubio said you advocate violence againstAmerica? Spenser Rapone (@SpenserRapone) / Twitter Less than a year after Rapones images drew a firestorm of vitriol and even death threats, the second lieutenant who became known as the commie cadet is officially out of the U.S. Army with an other-than-honorable discharge. West Point released a statement after Rapone posted the photos, saying his actions in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army. And U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, called on the secretary of the Army to remove Rapone from the officer ranks. "At the time, he was an outstanding, well-rounded student who . 45 1,924 He applied to be a West Point cadet and at that time he as not selected. It is against Army regulations to wear the uniform in connection with the furtherance of any political or commercial interests or when participating in public demonstrations unless authorized to do so. There are a lot of veterans both active duty and not that feel like I do.". Top brass at Fort Drum accepted Rapone's resignation Monday after an earlier reprimand for "conduct unbecoming of an officer." A review of Rapones Facebook page shows that over time, since 2014, his posts became increasingly anti-racism, anti-Israel, pro-Muslim, pro-Communist, anti-military, and anti-police. He then deployed to Afghanistan, where he earned a combat infantryman badge. This public. Communist ex-Ranger and West Pointer receiving a other than honorable discharge. University of Texas History Department Hires The West Point "Commie He applied once again to West Point and was accepted. 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone at his graduation from the Military Academy (via Twitter) West Point knew that they had an anti-American "commie cadet" on . Looks like the Commie Cadet is well on his way to become the first Army General who advocates the overthrow of the American Government. Rubio was apart of that cabal of capitalists andcollaborators. Helicopters crashed in mountains, fair weather, Army says, Army Special Ops Command welcomes first female command sergeant major, Army identifies 3 soldiers killed in Alaska helicopter crash, Army grounds helicopter fleet for force-wide safety stand down. As figures of public trust, members of the military must exhibit exemplary conduct, and are prohibited from engaging in certain expressions of political speech in uniform, it said. Mar 29 Damascus is under attack. West Point Communist Spenser Rapone Leaving Army | Law & Crime 2UOgS[M . On August 7, Rapone posted a photo on his Instagram account of himself in his Army uniform wearing a Democratic Socialists of America Membership card that says, official socialist organizer.. After the initial photo was posted and achieved some measure of viralityand elicited quite a bit of outrage and confusionRapone laid any confusion to rest and further incited his far-right critics by posting another photo of himself wearing aChe Guevarat-shirt underneath his half-buttoned uniform. Throughout this whole process, the military has certain ways of coercing you, so there was always athreat of morepunishment. Rapone came under fire last year for his social media posts of socialist and communist content. Also during that time, Rapones Facebook posts grew increasingly radical and leftist. Second Lieutenant Rapones actions in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army, it said. As weve seen in the recent past, ideological actors working inside the system such as Edward Snowden can do a tremendous amount of damage to national security. In 2021 Spenser Rapone was hired at the University of Texas in Austin in the History Departments New School for Social Research. West Point first admitted women in 1976, with 62 women graduating in the class of 1980. The appropriate Command authorities are reviewing the situation, an Army spokesman said. And U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, called on the secretary of the Army to remove Rapone from the officer ranks. Rapone, whose Twitter handle is punkproletarian, recently retweeted posts from Rory Fanning, an ex-Army Ranger who says he will be interviewing Rapone at the conference Socialism 2018., At Socialism 2018 Ill be sitting down with with Spenser Rapone, the US Army Ranger, Afghan-war combat vet, recent West Point graduate, and now war-resister, who sparked nation-wide fury after publicly supporting Colin Kaepernick and Socialism during his West Point graduation. PDF Spenser R. Rapone Education - University of Texas at Austin But you felt like you couldnt do anything about what you wereexperiencing. Exclusive: Former Congressman Who Nominated - The Daily Caller WvLUTTTkJX5SK's?:aBe".0X~m41aT`Z""%&QR6&; At the time, he was an outstanding, well-rounded student who came from a good family. Be Nice. I started to think, If Iwere aguy in Afghanistan, how would Ifeel about this? Ithink its no secret that many people in America would take great umbrage if someone was walking through their homes. And youve heard from other veterans and servicemembers? Template:TOCnestleft Its not illegal to be acommunist in the military, but since Iwas in uniform, and in their mind, making apolitical statement and posted on social media, they lumped it all together as this nebulous unbecoming conduct charge and said Iwas advocating forviolence. <>/Metadata 248 0 R/ViewerPreferences 249 0 R>> Army Commie Cadet Gets Promoted to 1LT. Then-Lieutenant Rapone put his own continued service on the line in order to speak up in support of blacklisted ex-49ers quarterbackColin Kaepernick. For his part, Rapone became infamous in 2017 after his photos and tweets made the internet rounds. To be clear, Rapones discharge is officially based on the fact that he made political gestures while in uniformnot due to the content of said gestures. Idont want people saying that because they are volunteers, theres no room for resisting. Despite his growing disillusionment about the military, he applied and got in. You have permission to edit this article. There is no better way to support this workand no better time to join. There were no red flags of any kind.". Its interesting that you say that because, really, all the whole pregame stuff at games is arecent phenomenon. Igot flagged and essentially told that if Iposted anything else, Iwould be in moretrouble. Last October, some old tweets of a West Point cadet in a Che Guevara shirt sparked outrage across the country. On Monday, the United States Military Academy welcomed more than 1,190 candidates for Reception Day. Episode 19: No War But The Class War w/ Spenser Rapone (Podcast - IMDb ", An unrepentant Rapone summed up the fallout in yet another tweet Monday that showed him extending a middle finger at a sign at the entrance to Fort Drum, accompanied by the words, "One final salute. Mr. Rapone used the social media platform on Wednesday to promote an upcoming Socialism 2018 talk in Chicago titled War Resister in the Ranks., At Socialism 2018 Ill be sitting down with with[sic] Spenser Rapone, the US Army Ranger, Afghan-war combat vet, recent West Point graduate, and now war-resister, who sparked nation-wide fury after publicly supporting Colin Kaepernick and Socialism during his West Point graduation, Rory Fanning, also an ex-Ranger, tweeted Wednesday. Spenser Rapone was accepted to West Point in 2012, graduated in 2016 and received an "other than honorable discharge" in June. Of the people who go into the military, not many people go with acomplete political formation of the world and, unfortunately, being in that world steers them acertain way. |?RzNB*0t[%vTvRHhii\&4PGO>]~:.1b"* 97by7=w|i>edjR9@6$Ol~9U`: onj "8W(:!,w0e0eIvsRdR5y6odwq,lAQ6Az!F Xig'" aNJFNED$Z9CYOzjc!=;{21m%veb0Nf[,|lj{(/ Threats of harming another Rapone has admitted being a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and has even posted pictures showing his membership card alongside his military name patch. During the interview, he expressed patriotism and looked just like a top-notch candidate. We were just going in their homes and threatening their villages and were creating nothing but chaos anddestruction. Army." On March 23, 2014, Rapone posted about anti-corporatism and racism. Iwas just using all of this expensive equipment in one of the poorest places on earth to serve the interests of acapitalist class. WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) The images Spenser Rapone posted on Twitter from his West Point graduation were intentionally shocking: In one, the cadet opens his dress uniform to expose a T-shirt with a blood-red image of socialist icon Che Guevara. When you study the role of the United States and the British and the French pre-dating them, you start to understand what imperialism really is. Toward the end of his deployment, he learned West Point fulfills a certain quota of enlisted soldiers every year. After amission, wed have adebrief and, if something particularly violent would happen, officers would say something like, That was kickass! They said if we didnt like it, we were in the wrong place. "I figured maybe I could change things from inside.". [image via Spenser Rapone with permission], Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher, Have a tip we should know? S5: Episode 31 - Mike Prysner & Spenser Rapone (Podcast Episode - IMDb Its a call for action beyond the scope of the US colonial state. He is also a teaching assistant, which gives him a platform to inflict his twisted worldview upon students who might think that if they don't go along, their grades could suffer. Check out the details here. Sometime last year, he posted a picture on Instagram of an Antifa flag in his room next to a print of Che Guevara. Spenser Rapone, a former US Army Ranger and Infantry Officer, was kicked out of the military for posting a photo of himself at his West Point graduation ceremony with an antiwar sign under his hat . Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. He enlisted in the United States Army right out of high school. They represent our nation's promise for the future," Deborah McDonald, director of admissions, said in a statement. He lost his career for speaking truth to power. "Of course my military career is dead in the water. He was nominated out of high school by then-U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire in 2010. Outside of my chain of command, people were threatening and silencing me and Ihad tons of alt-right and neo-fascists sending me death threats. Don't knowingly lie about anyone Top brass at Fort Drum accepted Rapones resignation Monday after an earlier reprimand for conduct unbecoming of an officer., Rapone said an investigation found he went online to advocate for a socialist revolution and disparage high-ranking officers. Report: West Point Professor Found Communist Officer's Social Media Similar to me, after he did his training and found himself overseas, he realized the harsh reality of what the American military was and formed his own opinions. Spenser R. Rapone Graduate Student, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin 128 Inner Campus Dr. B7000, GAR 1.104, Austin, Texas 78712-1739 p. (512) 471-3261 e. srrapone@utexas.edu Education University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas Greg Rinckey, an attorney specializing in military law, said its rare for an officer out of West Point to receive an other-than-honorable discharge. Spenser Rapone, a former second lieutenant whose "Communism Will Win" photo rocked the internet in 2017 after being featured by this publication, has received an "Other Than Honorable" discharge from the U.S. Army. Rapone is shown here during graduation ceremonies at the United States Military Academy at West Point with the phrase "Communism will win" written on the inside of his hat. According to his bio on the website, Rapone could no longer stomach the immorality of U.S. imperialism, he spoke out against the reprehensible actions of the military in September 2017. But after being deployed to Afghanistan and seeing the violence his unit was helping to inflict, Rapone grew increasingly disillusioned with the military.