Former Marine Graham Platner wants to be a senator. He's running in Maine, which is a pretty blue state, which means he doesn't have a horrible chance of winning. He's even got support from Bernie Sanders.
The problem for Platner is that he's a trainwreck of a candidate.
It started with a bunch of Reddit posts where, on top of a lot of troubling things, he turned out to also be an admitted communist. That alone should be disqualifying. Then there was the Nazi tattoo that he claimed he was completely unaware of what it meant--something I took issue with at our sister site Townhall on Wednesday--which didn't help.
Now, though, Platner's shadier actions crossed over into the Second Amendment realm.
Sullivan aquaculturalist Graham Platner, the ex-Marine running against Gov. Janet Mills (D) for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, instructed members of the Socialist Rifle Association on paramilitary tactics, according to newly uncovered social media posts.
The progressive star revealed in an Aug. 8, 2020 post that he’d provided advanced firearms instruction to the far left group, including a “defensive handgun course” he put on in June of 2020, shortly after the Black Lives Matter riots erupted across the country.
In response to a comment about tactical gear, Platner posted the following under the handle “P-Hustle,” referring to his training sessions with the socialist gun enthusiasts:
All we do is lots of range days, firearms education classes, and developing mutual aid networks in our community. Just put on a defensive handgun course two weekends ago, and we do monthly “introduction to firearms” courses for new members, as well as more advanced classes for experienced members. Helps we have a significant amount of combat veterans and firearms instructors who have put together a solid curriculum to build proficiency amongst our membership.
Platner made dozens of posts under the Socialist Rifle Association’s subreddit, r/SocialistRA, but that particular comment fell under r/tacticalgear.
...In Maine, the the group has never been linked to any violence or criminal conduct, though a recently enacted state law does prohibit “unauthorized paramilitary training.”
Under the 2023 statute, Platner could be found guilty of a Class D crime if the firearms instruction he provided had the goal of causing civil disorder or injuring another person.
In Maine, a Class D crime is just a misdemeanor, so it's not like he'd become a felon, but it's still considered a crime in the state if that's the goal, and let's remember that a big part of socialism is seizing the means of production. In other words, forcibly taking it from the lawful owners.
On the flip side, most want the government to do it for them, so that's not quite the same thing as an armed mob taking a factory over by force. It's still not a good thing in my book, but if Platner reasonably believes that was the goal all along and was just providing self-defense training, then no crime was committed.
He's just a commie, which should be disqualifying enough.
Further, the above report included at least one photograph that shows the Maine SRA is affiliated with Antifa, which has been responsible for countless acts of violence over the years. If Platner is affiliated with Antifa directly--and I'm sorry, it's more than just some idea. It's an actual organization--then that raises even more questions about him.
Honestly, Platner would do well to just take the "L" and slink off back into oblivion. In time, most people will forget about him.
Somehow, I doubt he's that smart. After all, he's a commie.
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