URI Scrambles As General Flynn’s Ties to QAnon Come Under Greater Scrutiny
Thursday, January 14, 2021
One of QAnon’s most loyal and highest-profile followers is former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump retired General Michael Flynn.
Flynn, a Rhode Island native and URI grad received an honorary degree from his alma mater in 2014.
On July 4, Flynn publicly pledged his allegiance to QAnon and again in recent weeks produced a video to reaffirm to support for the movement - the video shows Flynn reciting the QAnon pledge.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFlynn’s devotion to the movement has been public for months, but URI’s administration seems to be caught by surprise by Flynn's latest controvesies.
Nearly a month ago, Flynn said that President Trump could deploy the military to “rerun” the 2020 election.
During an appearance on Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports,” Flynn was asked about the actions the president could take to undo the results of the election. Flynn suggested that Trump could seize every voting machine in battleground states.
Flynn also urged deploying the military in swing states that Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden.
“He could order, within the swing states if he wanted to, he could take military capabilities and basically rerun an election each in those states,” Flynn said.
Flynn’s narrative was a key milestone in fanning the flames and the false narrative that the election was being stolen from Trump.
"The siege on the U.S. Capitol played out as a QAnon fantasy made real: The faithful rose up in their thousands, summoned to Washington by their leader, President Trump. They seized the people’s house as politicians cowered under desks. Hordes wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the “Q” symbol and toting Trump flags closed in to deliver justice, armed with zip-tie handcuffs and rope and guns,” reported the Washington Post on Wednesday.
Dooley's Silence
Despite Flynn’s role in QAnon and activism for military action to change the official election results, URI President David Dooley has been silent of the issue and not taken an action.
After days of refusing to comment URI spokeswoman Linda Acciardo told GoLocal is a statement that the University is considering Flynn’s degree’s fate.
“The University's Cornerstone values call for the pursuit of knowledge with honesty, integrity, and courage and are the foundation of all endeavors of the University community. Promotion of conspiracy theories is contradictory to those values” said Acciardo.
“The University is deeply troubled by the recent reports regarding QAnon and Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn's perceived connection to this organization. The president has consulted with the provost, who leads the University's Honorary Degree Committee, and has requested the Committee to convene to discuss this developing situation,” said Acciardo.
“The University takes very seriously the process of both awarding honorary degrees and consideration of rescinding an honorary degree. Such consideration requires the Honorary Degree Committee to conduct a careful and thorough analysis of the circumstances, and provide a recommendation to the president of the University. The president would then consider the Committee's recommendation and decide whether to rescind a degree,” said Acciardo.
The backdrop to URI's consideration is national unrest across the country. The FBI has stated publicly that there are credible threats of civil unrest and violence in all 50 states.
The Defense Department has authorized around 15,000 troops to be deployed to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President-elect Biden over worries about another domestic terrorist attack.
National Guard Bureau chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson told Military Times that there will initially be a deployment of 10,000 troops — an increase of about 4,000 from those in D.C. now. That figure is twice the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
URI Is Taking It Under Advisement
“The URI Board of Trustees would then receive the president's recommendation and vote to support or reject the recommendation. The University has recently received requests from members of its community, including alumni, to carefully consider rescinding Flynn's honorary degree,” adds Acciardo.
URI's Honorary Degree Committee is comprised of 11 members -- top administration officials, a group of students and one outside member -- former Providence Journal editor Carol Young, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The committee is chaired by Donald DeHayes, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
He tells GoLocal, “Indeed, in my role as Provost, I also serve as Chair of the Honorary Degree Committee at URI. The Honorary Degree Committee always conducts a thoughtful and thorough due diligence analysis in looking into serious matters such as this and will certainly do so in this case.”
Another committee member is former top aide to then-Governor Lincoln Chafee Kelly Mahoney who now serves as Executive Director of External Relations and Communications for the University.
“As a member of the Committee it is premature to comment until the Committee has had the opportunity to meet and carefully review the situation,” said Mahoney.
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