Trinity College Professor Johnny Williams has had to leave his home state of Connecticut after receiving multiple death threats in the wake of the nation’s latest free speech controversy, law professor Jonathan Turley writes.
Earlier this week, Williams linked to a provocative piece by writer Son of Baldwin entitled “Let Them Fucking Die” on his personal Facebook page. The piece itself did not call for any violence, but did suggest black people not intervene to save the lives of anti-black (white) bigots.
Son of Baldwin’s piece–and the sharing of it–would have probably been a mutedly controversial exercise in futilely discussing American race relations any other time, but it was written in the direct aftermath of, and response to, the shooting at the Congressional baseball practice. So tensions are high. And Williams was threatened.
In response, Trinity College shut down operations on Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution.”
During the attack, Representative Steve Scalise‘s life was saved by a black female police officer. Briefly, Scalise fought against LGBT rights.
Nonetheless, Williams’ sharing of the article ruffled a few feathers. Williams, for his part, claimed he posted the article in response to a police shooting in Seattle where officers killed a pregnant black woman, Charleena Lyles, who had called to report a burglary. He said, “I’m calling for the death of a system, white supremacy, not the death of white people.”
Multiple academics have risen to Williams’ defense on free speech grounds, Turley among them.Williams has since apologized.
[image via Trinity College/video courtesy NBC]
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