Susan Collins challenger lamented that ‘every terrorist is portrayed as evil’
Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, defended terrorist groups in a post-9/11 newspaper op-ed, arguing “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” and lamenting that “every terrorist is portrayed as evil.”
Platner, a Marine veteran running against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, was in high school when he co-wrote an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News that chastised media outlets for ignoring the motivations of terrorist groups in order “to appease the nation’s newfound sense of patriotism.”
In the Nov. 25, 2002, article, Platner and his comrades said media outlets often provide an “incomplete story” of terrorist acts. They took issue with “incomplete coverage” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “where a sometimes-oppressive Israeli state can be, and often is, portrayed as a victim.” And news outlets failed to discuss the “motivations” of Chechen rebels who weeks earlier took hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater to pressure Russia to withdraw from Chechnya.
While the students said they did not condone terrorist attacks on the United States, Israel, or Russia, they asserted ending “terrorist actions is best achieved by understanding the circumstances under which they were committed.”
Those sympathetic views emerge as Platner gains momentum in the Maine Senate race, which could determine which party controls the upper chamber. Platner has landed an endorsement from democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), giving Platner a significant boost in the race against five other Democratic contenders.
Platner, who currently runs an oyster farm, has already faced scrutiny for anti-Israel rhetoric and criticism of American foreign policy. He accuses Israel of genocide in its war against Hamas, but has not publicly condemned the Islamist terrorist group, which slaughtered 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. He has criticized Collins for taking campaign donations from the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying in a Facebook ad it is “an endorsement I will never get. Because what is happening right now in Gaza is a genocide.”
While Platner’s op-ed could be dismissed as the musings of an idealistic teenager, he has embraced his student activism on the campaign trail. In a social media post last month, Platner touted his nomination in high school as “Most Likely to Start a Revolution.” The yearbook photo shows Platner holding a sign calling to “FREE” Chechnya, Kosovo, and “Palestine.”
During high school, weeks before writing the newspaper op-ed, Platner took part in an antiwar protest against President George W. Bush. According to the Bangor Daily News, Platner held up a “No war” sign during Bush’s speech and began yelling, “Don’t attack Iraq. If our best generals tell us not to go to war, why should we?”
Despite his antiwar views, Platner joined the Marines after graduating high school, serving four years with tours in Iraq. Platner said in a recent interview he joined the military “mostly out of like a young man’s sense of duty and also a bit of a call to adventure.” Platner went to college after four years of service and reenlisted in the Army in 2010, deploying to Afghanistan. But he grew disillusioned with the military, realizing “that I did not believe in the thing that I had taken part in.”
Platner’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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