By Kyle Jackson
On April 7, at 8:06 a.m., President Trump posted an ultimatum to the country of Iran, stating that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” should the Strait of Hormuz not open by 8 p.m. EST. As Trump explained in a vulgar worded post on Easter Sunday, April 5, this strike would target major civilian infrastructures, mainly power plants and bridges.
“Open the Fucken’ Strait you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell- JUST WATCH!” wrote the President on Easter Sunday, “Praise be to Allah.”
The effects of these posts on the students of Grand Rapids Community College has already become apparent with a mix of concern, frustration, and fear.
Emily Hyde, a second-year student at GRCC, initially was unaware of the recent post. Hyde shared her reaction after reading the post.
“It’s a little intense, like, a lot of the civilians, they didn’t choose to be born there, you don’t choose to be born, especially where you’re born,” Hyde said. “I’m sure that some of them are scared.”
Other students expressed fear for both the civilians of Iran and themselves.
An international student, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed their fear toward the current state of foreign affairs, saying that the President should focus on America first. The student explained that they wanted to remain anonymous out of concerns of being sent home as a result of speaking out.
“I think this is a scary repetition of history,” said Dani Burchard, another student at GRCC. “This is like the stuff that Adolf Hitler did, where he took out an entire group of people for racial purity reasons, except this time it’s for capitalistic greed. I feel like I’m a bit lost and like I can’t be as involved anymore because it’s just too much.”
To some, this threat is just another day for the President, not being surprised by his actions given what he has done in the past.
Tati Cardosa, 28, of Grand Rapids also shared her reaction after reading the threat.
“Personally, I don’t fuck with Trump, so that’s just how I feel in general,” Cardosa said. “Saying that people are going to die, ‘today’s going to be the day,’ and stuff like that. He’s always saying words, and stuff like that. So I don’t really know how to feel about it in general. But when it comes to this type of stuff, it’s sad as hell.”
The actions of the Trump administration during this conflict have been heavily criticized by countless government officials and civilians on social media.
Michigan Senator Alyssa Slokin added her concerns to the wave of voices against Trump’s threatening Instagram post.
“The president is taking his threats against the Iranian people to new extremes,” Slokin wrote. “Targeting civilians en masse would be a clear violation of the law of armed conflict as laid out in the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual.”
“This kind of focus on civilians is exactly what we accuse our adversaries of doing and what our military trains to avoid,” Slokin wrote. “It’s built into the rigorous drilling and routines that our military are trained on from their first weeks. If they are today or have been asked to do things that violate the law and their training, it puts them in very real legal jeopardy.”
Slokin concluded the post by restating her longtime belief that it is a soldier’s right to refuse illegal orders, no matter the chain of command that issues them, urging military leaders to have the “moral clarity to push back if they are given clearly illegal orders.”
With the stress of current events, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. It’s important to be mindful of one’s mental health.
Resources for mental health support at GRCC can be accessed here.
Today at 6:32 p.m., President Trump declared a two-week ceasefire on his TRUTH Social. Just one hour and 28 minutes from the planned bombings on Iran.
“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote, “The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.”
Collegiate reporters Karalynn Davis, Madisyn Dennison, and Alexandria Webb contributed to this story.
