That is completely different from rioting in a town, tipping cars that beling to private parties, and defying police. And what makes this even more difficult from the Army's perspective was the context. The fact is that the national perception is that, at a minimum, JoePa did not take proper action when informed of child molestation. So it appears that the students were rioting in support of a guy who did something wrong, and failed in a duty.
He put the Army in a pretty tough position -- cadet arrested for rioting in support of JoePa. Ouch.
I agree that this cadet’s actions were criminal, and more serious than Army/Navy week rallies.
But, you didn’t address the last part of my post - West Point would give people arrested for DUI a second chance. And, DUI is clearly criminal, and deadly dangerous.
I suspect he was kicked out of ROTC, because his being in jail made it impossible for him to participate...and, some convictions may automatically call for dismissal.
However, the ex-Cadet has options to get back in. As somebody else mentioned, he could enlist, excel, and apply for OCS. Or, I suspect he could sit out a year, and re-apply to ROTC.
Unlike many on this thread, I am ‘ok’ with that. He was preparing to be an officer...but he isn’t one yet. I don’t know about ROTC; but, West Point has a whole system set up for discipline - area tours and demerits. The system is in place, because you people will eventually screw up.
If he gets another shot at it, he will be at least a year older, and hopefully more mature. Some of my old classmates are now Majors and LTC....but when they were young and dumb, they did some outrageously stupid things. They turned out alright, though. This guy could as well.