US Merchant Marine Academy official under fire over tweet about ‘white, masculine’ roots of racism and misogyny
An official at the US Merchant Marine Academy is under fire for a series of racist tweets, including one in which he attributes misogyny and racism to “the same white and male root”.
Anton Tripolskii, who was hired at the school in Kings Point, New York, as the $142,595-a-year director of sexual assault response, sent out a June 2020 tweet that is now the target of a scathing letter from the Anti -Woke Woke Caucus of the United States House.
“We don’t have forces that do good for survivors of intimate partners and sexual assault because we don’t have forces that don’t abuse people of color and people of color,” Tripolskii wrote in the controversial tweet. “Same forces, same reasons. Misogyny and racism grow from the same white, male root.”
The Anti-Woke Caucus is now asking the superintendent of the academy to ask for answers about Tripolskii’s Twitter activity, which was installed in September.
The letter — signed by Republican Representatives Jim Banks of Indiana, Mary Miller of Illinois, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina and Brian Babin of Texas — comes amid allegations by some midshipmen that the service academy under the authority of the Vice Admiral Superintendent Joanna Nunan and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg became increasingly “woke.”
From July 1, 2019 to December 15, 2022, 26 cases of sexual assault were reported to the USMMA, according to a report submitted to Congress.
Citing more tweets than before his academy admission, caucus members asked for clarification on whether Tripolskii’s “explicit comments on race and gender in the United States reflect the academy and its beliefs.”
Members noted that Tripolskii a user retweeted in October 2020 which suggested that “white men with a history of domestic and sexual violence” are more likely to become “radicalized terrorists”.
In April 2020, Tripolskii’s quote tweeted a political cartoon that depicted a closed church locked down by police while stores labeled “Twitter Drama” and “Fiona Apple Album” remained open. “This is my paradise,” he wrote.
“We hope the Merchant Marines disavow Mr. Tripolskii’s argument that society lacks the capacity to treat survivors of rape and sexual assault or, more generally, Americans of all ethnicities with dignity and respect,” they wrote. members of the Anti-Woke Caucus. “Likewise, we hope the Merchant Marines disavow the argument that any failure to do so ‘grows from the same white, male root.'”
The letter went on to mention that in an email Tripolskii sent to all midshipmen in April regarding the Academy’s “inaugural field day” for its Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, he explained that the event’s goal was to “support members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Misogyny and racism grow from the same white male root.
— Anton Tripolskii, director of SASH prevention at the US Merchant Marine Academy
“LGBTQ+ people’s identities are marginalized in our society, which makes it more difficult to report and seek assistance for sexual assault, which LGBTQ+ people in particular face at an unacceptably high rate,” Tripolskii wrote, according to a copy of the e -mail obtained from digital Fox News.
John Guttlein, a 2022 graduate of the school, told Fox News Digital earlier this year that when he was enrolled, T-shirts emblazoned with a rainbow logo were handed out to midshipmen who wished to wear sweatpants during such a “Spirit Day”. Those who refused to wear the rainbow jersey were required to wear their standard uniform khakis.
Several midshipmen currently attending the academy who spoke to Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity said the “revival” ideology seeped into the school and accelerated under Buttigieg, whose Department of Transportation oversees the service academy .
Members of Congress concluded their letter by emphasizing the Academy’s stated commitment to inclusion and questioned whether Tripolskii’s sentiments of “denigrating white men as a group” are conducive to that end.
They further asked whether the academy agrees with Tripolskii that misogyny and racism emerge “from the same white male root” and whether such an attitude might make white male midshipmen reluctant to come forward with sexual assault allegations.
The House subcommittee overseeing the DOT directed the academy on page 99 of its appropriations bill last year to “implement SASH [sexual assault and sexual harassment] prevention measures, provide additional support to survivors, help support wider culture change al [academy] and across the maritime sector and advanced measures to support diversity, equity and inclusion”.
The 26-member House Anti-Woke Caucus, which Banks helped establish earlier this year, has asked members of 12 appropriations committees to strike such language out of their bills.
“Mr. Tripolskii’s comments are divisive and wrong and disqualify him from employment at a US Service Academy,” Banks told Fox News Digital. “It appears that House Democrats, along with Secretary Buttigieg, have used their appropriations bill to politicize the United States Merchant Marine Academy and support the hiring of far-left ideologues.”
“The Anti-Woke Caucus is calling on all Republicans to use our majority vote to remove this kind of politically weaponized language from all government funding bills,” Banks added.
A US Merchant Marine Academy spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital that it had received the letter from caucus members and said the academy continues to focus on strengthening sexual assault prevention and response capacity in support of midshipmen on campus. and cadets at sea.
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