Seth Jahn, a Paralympian soccer player, 11-year military veteran and dissident, was kicked off of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Athlete Council for speaking out against the organization repealing their policy against kneeling during the national anthem. Jahn, who played for the U.S. seven-a-side team in the 2015 Parapan American Games, gave a speech before the […]
Seth Jahn, a Paralympian soccer player, 11-year military veteran and dissident, was kicked off of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Athlete Council for speaking out against the organization repealing their policy against kneeling during the national anthem.
Jahn, who played for the U.S. seven-a-side team in the 2015 Parapan American Games, gave a speech before the organization’s board vote on Saturday.
“I’m sure I’m going to ruffle some feathers with what I’m about to say, especially given the athletes council that I’m on, but given the evolution of our quote-unquote, progressive culture where everything offends everybody, those willing to take a knee for our anthem don’t care about defending half of our country and when they do so, then I don’t have too much concern in also exercising my First Amendment right,” he said Saturday. “We’re here to get a different perspective. I also feel compelled to articulate that I’m of mixed race and representative of undoubtedly the most persecuted people in our country’s history, Native Americans.”
Jahn urged that “95 percent of deaths in black communities come at the hands of another black man.”
“I keep hearing how our country was founded on the backs of slaves, even though approximately only 8 percent of the entire population even owned slaves,” He said. “Every race in the history of mankind has been enslaved by another demographic at some point in time. Blacks have been enslaved. Hispanics have ben enslaved. Asians most recently in our country in the freaking 20th century, have been enslaved. Natives have been enslaved. Whites have been enslaved. Shoot, I lived in Africa for two and a half years where I could purchase people, slaves, between the price of $300 and $800 per person, per head depending on their age, health and physicality.”
“Where were the social justice warriors and on the news journalists there to bring their ruminations to these real atrocities?” he added. “And yet in all of history, only one country has fought to abolish slavery, the United States of America where nearly 400,000 men died to fight for the abolishment of slavery underneath the same star and bars that our athletes take a knee for. Their sacrifice is tainted with every knee that touches the ground.”
Following the speech, the athlete’s council said it had removed Jahn because he “violated the prohibited conduct’s policy section on harassment, which prohibits racial or other harassment based upon a person’s protected status (race), including any verbal act in which race is used or implied in a manner which would make a reasonable person uncomfortable. The athlete’s council does not tolerate this type of language and finds it incompatible with membership on the council. While the council understands that each person has a right to his or her own opinion, there are certain opinions that go beyond the realm of what is appropriate or acceptable.”
But Jahn did not back down.
Hours after he was removed, Jahn reiterated his stance in a statement and urged that his words were not a reflection on U.S. Soccer or the U.S. Extended Teams.
“I will never apologize for the statements I made, and I will never bow down to the mob mentality of intimidation, bullying or the social media warrior’s gestapo tactics. I’m embarrassed to represent a hypocritical federation that conducts a complete assault on diversity of thought without even seeking clarifying statements from me in their smear campaign. I’m embarrassed at the cowardice of so-called friends who bent over to the mob, knowing very well the quality of my character, in order to preserve their own image,” Jahn wrote.
Jahn even received death threats for simply defending the national anthem.
“The overwhelming support I received from a number of people within the federation compared to the 30+ death threats I received from the insignificant rabid keyboard warriors was appreciated, but I implore you to speak publicly in your support in the future for those bold enough to challenge the status quo and not just privately,” he said.
Before playing as a forward on the 7-a-side team, Jahn served in the U.S. Army.
He was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan three times and was injured in 2010, Fox News reports. He started training with the U.S. Paralympics National Soccer Team in 2014, and competed for Team SOCOM in 2013 Warriors Games, and competed for Team USA in the 2016 Paralympics.
Jahn was martyred for doing something any and every American should do: defending our flag and our national anthem. But, cancel culture wants to take even that away from us in their effort to rewrite history and reshape the narrative of today.
