Mastriano wore the Confederate uniform for the faculty photo

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate three years before retiring from the U.S. Army, posed in a Confederate uniform for a faculty photo at the Army War Middle School.

The photo, which Reuters said on Friday it obtained after a request under the Freedom of Information Act, shows Mastriano in uniform in a 2013-2014 portrait for the Department of Military Strategy, Plans and Operations, where he worked until his retirement in 2017. Reuters said it was said that professors at the time had the option of dressing up as historical figures, and although a few did, only Mastriano wears a Confederate uniform.

The Army War College said in a statement that a team in 2020 reviewed all art, text and images displayed at Carlisle Barracks to align with Army values ​​and the university’s educational philosophies. , but he missed the photo of the faculty, which « has since been removed because it does not uphold the values ​​of the AWC.

Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator, spread Donald Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and was a leading supporter in Pennsylvania of Trump’s drive to overturn the result. He was also in the crowd outside the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021 attack by Trump supporters after attending the nearby ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.

Mastriano did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but retweeted a comment from Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to his campaign, who said, « Media MELT DOWN whom Mastriano apparently once posed as a historical figure in the civil war for a photo. And? He has a doctorate in HISTORY.

“The left wants to erase history. Doug Mastriano wants us to learn from this,” Ellis tweeted.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro accused Mastriano of wearing the ‘uniform of traitors who fought to defend slavery’, calling him ‘deeply offensive’ and saying his opponent was ‘unfit to be governor’ .

Mastriano served three decades in the military, retiring as a colonel after serving in Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Confederate flags, symbols and statues have increasingly divided the country in recent years, with critics calling them symbols representing the fight to maintain slavery and supporters calling them manifestations of Southern pride and heritage. .

The Associated Press

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