A Virginia the substitute teacher was removed after expressing the approval of the Russian president Vladimir PutinRussia’s decision to invade Ukraine and urged students to read Russian propaganda publications, including Sputnik News.
Arlington Public Schools removed 65-year-old John Stanton, who made the comments during an eighth-grade Spanish lesson on Friday at Swanson High School.
Stanton told Washington Post he offered the opposite view of Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine in the first 10 minutes of the 90-minute hour, approving of Putin’s decision to invade.
The substitute teacher, who worked for pro-Moscow publications as a journalist, told students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which FBIThe CIA and the National Security Agency have announced a “state propaganda machine.”
“The statement I think caught me was that I said, ‘I personally support Putin’s logic,’ and what I meant was that he made a rational decision from his perception,” Stanton said.
Arlington Public Schools remove 65-year-old John Stanton, who made comments during an eighth-grade Spanish lesson on Friday at Swanson High School (file image)
In an email to the school board, parents said Stanton’s comments, in which he voiced support for Russia and asked students if anyone “hated Russia”, were “political advocacy and Russian propaganda.” The e-mail notes that there was a Ukrainian student in the class at the time.
Officials told Stanton on Tuesday that he had been suspended on “charges of commenting on students during school hours on sensitive world events with Russia and Ukraine.”
Stanton, who has been Arlington’s deputy for three years, said he had no plans to petition for reinstatement.
He said Fox 5: “It is pointless to petition. We live in a time of military propaganda on both sides, which brings with it censorship of opinions that deviate from the main message.
“She’s in a fever now.” As an information warfare expert and author of many articles on the subject, I speak with some authority.
A school spokesman declined to discuss Stanton’s comments or employment status.
Stanton, whose autobiography lists roles as a researcher at the American Institute of Entrepreneurship, host of an unnamed 1980 “political / cultural radio program” in DC and an “independent journalist,” said he wrote for publications such as Pravda, which was a major Soviet Union propaganda platform.
In one Truth opinionpublished Monday, Stanton claims that the United States owns “every country in the NATO alliance” and describes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “great news for Western counterparts who are making” billions in profits “.
The deputy teacher, who worked for pro-Moscow publications as a journalist, told students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency called a “state propaganda machine.”
Stanton also worked for Sputnik News in Washington from 2016 to 2018, according to his resume, but a 2018 PBS article revealed that he was filed after providing information about the exit of a third-party client.
“I got as much information from them as possible [Sputnik News] computer systems, taking pictures of staff, gathering information, “Stanton said, adding that the client is a U.S. government intelligence agency without further expansion.
Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Belavia declined to answer questions directly about how Stanton was hired from the board or whether an inspection was conducted during the hiring process, the Washington Post reported.
Instead, Bellavia said that “we are extracting from a group of subscribers and they should not have any experience in the subject area in which they are joining.”
Stanton said he would deliver the same speech again if he had the chance, but he understood why his speech on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not appropriate for a Spanish lesson.
“If I got to a student – and there was a student who told the kids to be quiet because he wanted to study,” Stanton said. “If that’s the case for a student, I’d do it again.”