Patriots Draft Pick Accused of Being a 'White Supremacist' for Retweeting Trump, Liking Conservative Commentators
A dream come true for one non-Power Five college football player — getting drafted by a perennial NFL winner — is devolving into a nightmare after leftists on social media have accused him of being a “white supremacist.”
Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft, 159th overall, by the New England Patriots on Saturday.
His celebration didn’t last long. Rohrwasser was soon hit with accusations that he is a racist connected to an “alt-right” militia group.
Patriots didn’t draft a qb, but at least they drafted an alt-right kicker (this is a joke, don’t draft nazi’s)
— 10 TEs arent enough (@JoshuFried) April 25, 2020
Rohrwasser, who is from Troy, New York, has a number of tattoos on his body, many of them with patriotic themes: One depicts an American flag, another reads “Don’t Tread on Me” and a third simply states “Liberty or Death.”
But it is a tattoo on his left outer forearm, a Roman numeral III, that some on the left have seized upon as proof that the kicker is a racist extremist.
Patriots kicker Justin Rohrwasser says he has had his white supremacist 3 percenter tattoo since he was a teen. At some point he claims he figured out what it stood for & did nothing about it, but now has decided to cover it after being drafted https://t.co/VelDOQV8kT
— Robert Littal (@BSO) April 25, 2020
The III is a symbol of the Three Percenters, a pro-Second Amendment organization that has been labeled an anti-government militia by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“We are NOT a militia. … We are NOT anti-government. In fact, we are very pro-government, so long as the government abides by the Constitution, doesn’t overstep its bounds, and remains ‘for the people and by the people.’ Our goal is to utilize the failsafes put in place by our founders to rein in an overreaching government and push back against tyranny,” the group says on its website.
The website explains the origin of Three Percenters’ name:
“It is a rough estimate that only 3% of the colonists were actively fighting in the field against British forces at any given time. Today we recognize with this 3% in being that we will be the last defense to protect the citizens of the United States if there ever comes a day when our government takes up arms against the American people.”
After the backlash, Rohrwasser said he will cover up the tattoo, according to Fox News.
“I got that tattoo when I was a teenager and I have a lot of family in the military. I thought it stood for a military-support symbol at the time,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s evolved into something that I do not want to represent. When I look back on it, I should have done way more research before I put any mark or symbol like that on my body, and it’s not something I ever want to represent. It will be covered.”
If the far left can’t connect Rohrwasser to alleged white supremacy through his tattoos, it will try to do so through his social media accounts.
A Twitter account calling itself Resist Programming combed through the 23-year-old’s past posts and shared several screen shots, which largely seem to prove the kicker is guilty of being a conservative.
The Marshall alum, who also played at Rhode Island before transferring, has liked and retweeted comments by President Donald Trump and a number of conservative media personalities, and praised another NFL draftee for standing during the national anthem.
On Twitter, Justin Rohrwasser recently liked a tweet praising Joe Burrow for standing during the national anthem. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/90tprdweRx
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser has liked and retweeted Trump. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/hSXRfrJnX2
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser liked when Trump was acquitted of impeachment articles and liked criticism of Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump’s speech. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ubCHmGxldy
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Another Justin Rohrwasser liked tweet:
“Trump is still your president. Shut up lol.” #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/usl8Es32LF
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser has liked Tweets from a variety of right wing, Trump defending personalities including Charlie Kirk, Dinesh D’Souza, Terrance K. Williams, and Steven Crowder. pic.twitter.com/SrhT24t8IZ
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
Justin Rohrwasser has liked Candace Owens’ tweets including this one saying #BLEXIT is helping “Black people” to “wake up.” #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/s5jpbHDLCZ
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 26, 2020
The account responded to criticism of the thread by attacking the Founding Fathers.
Some people above are trying to defend the Three Percenters as not racist.
Pro Tip: appealing to the “founding fathers” doesn’t help your case because they were all slave owners. Jefferson Owens 600+ slaves. pic.twitter.com/7KSMZbceDo
— Resist Programming ? (@RzstProgramming) April 27, 2020
Former ESPN “SportsCenter” host Jemele Hill retweeted the Resist Programming thread Sunday and declared the Pats’ new kicker is “a white supremacist” before adding, “My bad, he tends to like white supremacist things.”
Patriots kicker is a white supremacist. My bad, he tends to like white supremacist things. Carry on, nothing to see here. https://t.co/CQE0S7LKO8
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2020
Hill, who has also called Trump “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists,” also complained that Rohrwasser has an NFL job while former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned.
For those scoring at home, a white supremacist found a job in the NFL, but Colin Kaepernick isn’t welcome.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2020
The kicker’s explanation for the tattoo wasn’t good enough for Hill.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this but covering up your white supremacist tattoos doesn’t really matter if you still think like a white supremacist,” she tweeted.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but covering up your white supremacist tattoos doesn’t really matter if you still think like a white supremacist
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 26, 2020
Rohrwasser, the first kicker taken in this year’s draft, has since protected his Twitter account.
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