Michael Flynn’s Rhode Island Hall of Fame Inclusion Prompts Resignations
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
At least five board members who oversee the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame have resigned from the organization after Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser under Donald J. Trump, was chosen to be inducted in 2024.
In resignation letters seen by The New York Times and in interviews, the board members said that Mr. Flynn, who has embraced conspiracy theories and is a prominent election denier, should not be recognized by the organization.
The hall of fame was founded in 1965 and recognizes people from Rhode Island “who made significant contributions” or who came to prominence for work they did while they lived in the state. Inductees in 2023 included Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson, the first Black person and the second woman confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and J.L. “Lynn” Singleton, the president and chief executive of the Providence Performing Arts Center.
Mr. Flynn, who is from Rhode Island, was among those chosen to be inducted into the 2024 Hall of Fame class in a Dec. 13 vote by 19 board members. A cascade of board resignations followed, The Providence Journal and The Boston Globe first reported.
John Tarantino, a lawyer, and Bea Lanzi, a former state senator, resigned in a letter to Lawrence Reid, the president of the hall of fame’s board, and other board members. A copy of their joint letter, which was dated Dec. 14 and was provided to The Times on Friday, said that the vote result was “both disappointing and astounding to us.”
“There is an overall right and wrong in the universe, and what has happened here, in our view, and according to our moral compasses, and consciences, compels us to resign,” the letter said.
Ms. Lanzi did not respond to messages, and Mr. Tarantino declined to comment.
“When we learned last month that Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was a nominee, you and the Board were advised specifically and in detail why we believe that he is not worthy of induction and why his induction would likely cause real and dramatic harm to the organization,” their letter said.
They also said that their donations to the organization may only be used for charitable purposes and not “to deal with any legal fees, crisis management, public relations fallout, or other negative reactions the organization may face because of Lt. Gen. Flynn’s nomination and induction.”
Mr. Reid declined to comment. Mr. Flynn did not respond to a request for comment.
The board did not confirm publicly what was the total number of resignations.
Patrick T. Conley, a lawyer for the hall of fame’s board and its former president, told NBC 10, a local news channel, that six board members had resigned and that Mr. Flynn had accepted the nomination.
Mr. Conley defended Mr. Flynn by noting that he had received a presidential pardon, after he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. “When asked about Flynn peddling conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, Conley told NBC 10 he didn’t want to get into that,” the news channel said.
Mr. Flynn is a prominent denier of the 2020 presidential election results and suggested in December 2020 that Mr. Trump could deploy the military to rerun the presidential race in battleground states.
Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Flynn after the general had espoused questionable views, falsely stating that Shariah, or Islamic law, was spreading in the United States and saying that the United States should work with any willing allies, including President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in a “world war” with Islamist militants.
Mr. Flynn has also embraced QAnon theories and pushed other fringe ideas. In a January 2022 interview with the right-wing conspiracy website Infowars, Flynn accused George Soros, Bill Gates and others of creating the coronavirus so they could “steal an election” and “rule the world.”
Ann Marie Marzilli Maguire, the board’s treasurer and a former paralegal, said she resigned after the vote.
“This is wrong,” she said in an interview on Tuesday. “This is not what the organization stands for.”
Steve Aveson, a board member for 19 years, also resigned after the vote. Mr. Aveson, a former television news anchor and correspondent, said in a text message that he was “heartbroken over what this has done” to the hall of fame.
One of the resignation letters, from Denise Aiken, a former state representative, said, “I find that I am unable to be associated with an organization that would choose to honor a criminal who failed to keep this oath to the Constitution of the United States.”
“I just couldn’t see placing that particular nominee on the same footing with so many fabulous people that have been honored in that way over the many years that it’s been in existence,” Ms. Aiken told The Providence Journal.
Ms. Aiken, when reached by telephone on Friday, declined to comment or provide a copy of the letter quoted by The Journal. But she said the newspaper’s report had “everything you need to see.”
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Michael Flynn is a Q Anon far right nutjob who called for the imposition of martial law after the 2020 election in order to assist Donald Trump in stealing the presidency. How in hell can any of the United States put such a person into their State Hall of Fame? Is there such a shortage of worthy candidates for the Hall of Fame of Rhode Island that they have to slink down to the level where they put this traitor into their Hall of Fame?
Yawn ….. Good riddance.
Is he going somewhere? He is being put in the Rhode Island Hall Of Fame.
Nah but the triggered loons that resigned are and uh …. Buh bye …
I dont think the ones that are resigning are the loons in this story.
Opinions do vary. Greatly in this case.
He advocated for the overthrow of our government. He is a traitor. He belongs in the Mara Lago hall of fame maybe, but nowhere else.
Apply 2.1.3 generously, lather, rinse and repeat as necessary.
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Mr. Flynn, who is from Rhode Island, was among those chosen to be inducted into the 2024 Hall of Fame class in a Dec. 13 vote by 19 board members. A cascade of board resignations followed, The Providence Journal and The Boston Globe first reported.
A good example of some of our friend's on the left not being able to handle a fair vote result. If they don't get their way they take their ball and go home, maybe to dust off their pussy hats.
Rhode Island must be lacking notable people if Flynn makes the cut there.
Except for the fact he is notable. Maybe he messed up at the end of his career but that does not change the fact of his service to our country. I would suggest letting a state choose who they will and move on. What is gained by resigning? Tomorrow it will be forgotten, the people that resigned have already been forgotten and life will go on. This is not a national story.
Is Benedict Arnold in the Connecticut (where he was born) Hall Of Fame?
And Rhode Island made a different decision. Other than the snowflakes that quit over it you seem to be more upset by it that residents of Rhode Island. Actually I bet most of them are not even aware of it and if they are aware of it could not care less. Assuming you don't live in Rhode Island why is it so important to you what they do?
Benedict Arnold might be an appropriate analogy.
Flynn came from a large middle class family. His father was a enlisted WWII and Korea War vet. His younger brother became a four star commander. He didn't go to West Point and was and Intel officer which makes it much harder to go as far as a three star general.
His reputation in the Army was top notch as highly effective intel officer in NATO, IRAQ and Afghanistan. Like Mcchrystal and Petraeus, he was a maverick and was trying to change the military tactics and strategies to deal with the terrorism threat.
Things went South for him when Obama gave him his three star billet. He felt that the administration wasn't being upfront on a continuing threat. He also tried to hard to shake up the large, 17,000 man Defense Intelligence Agency. He lost that normally 3 year position after 2 years and retired.
Then perhaps it was anger, ego, money and the desire for power that caused him to follow the path he did against the advice of the officers he admired and worked for. Perhaps a parable for our times.
Yep. He ran afoul of Obama cartel by disagreeing with them too much and they finally got him.
Some are still trying apparently.
It was a mistake. He was supposed to be included in the Rhode Island Hall of Shame.
“It was a mistake.”
…or was it providence?
lol …. Nice!