Trinity Professor Flees Campus After Threats Over Facebook Comments, Issues Public Apology

[jpak]

Source: Hartford Courant

Trinity College Professor Johnny Eric Williams Thursday issued a public apology and said he was in hiding far from Connecticut as the campus reopened amid a furor over his recent controversial Facebook posts.

Williams said his posts were not a call for violence against white people, as some claimed when the posts spread across social media. Some of his colleagues spoke out in support of Williams, who fled Hartford after receiving death threats.

The controversial pair of Facebook posts included an inflammatory and profane hashtag — "Let Them [expletive] Die" — that was widely shared on social and conservative media, leading to the threats against Williams and calls for him to be fired.

"It was overwhelming for my family," Williams said. "I have to look out for my family. I've got young kids."

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Read more: http://www.courant.com/education/hc-trinity-williams-facebook-furor-20170622-story.html

[DK504]

1. "It was overwhelming for my family," Williams said.

... I have to look out for my family. I've got young kids."

Maybe you shouldn't be such a sosciopath before you speak of things you know nothing about. He needs to be fired immediately.

[brush]

2. What were the two facebook posts. The whole article at the link doesn't seem to articulate them.

There's only one alleged quote: "Let them fucking die", but doesn't have the quotes highlighted, almost as there's an attempt to avoid posting his words, or it's just piss poor journalism.

[jpak]

3. Those symbols didn't show up when I pasted the text

I noticed that too.

[christx30]

4. The posts:

“Saving the life of those that would kill you is the opposite of virtuous,” the essayist wrote. “Let. Them. F***ing. Die. And smile a bit when you do. For you have done the universe a great service.”

“I’m fed the f**k up with self identified ‘white’s’ daily violence directed at immigrants, Muslim, and sexually and racially oppressed people. The time is now to confront these inhuman a**holes and end this now,” the professor wrote.

[brush]

7. Thank you. I have to say I agree with the prof, except for the smiling part

[blue-wave]

11. So You're advocating violence?

So wrong on so many different levels, but most of all morally wrong. I believe that is what Martin Luther King was attempting to teach us.

[brush]

12. Read the posts again. He said saving the life of those trying to kill you...

is the opposite of virtue" and “I’m fed the f**k up with self identified ‘white’s’ daily violence directed at immigrants, Muslim, and sexually and racially oppressed people. The time is now to confront these inhuman a**holes and end this now”.

That's not advocating violence.

He's saying he's tired of the violence directed towards immigrants, Muslim, and sexually and racially oppressed people.

Are you saying he should not be tired of violence directed towards immigrants, Muslim, and sexually and racially oppressed people, that these people should just shut up and accept the violence?

[blue-wave]

13. No, not saying they should shut up at all

but the rhetoric is inflammatory. We need to be smarter than this.

[brush]

14. That Philando Castile video is so vile it pushed some over the edge. People do get tired...

of seeing cold-blooded murderers like that who then say they "feared for their life" and get away with killing innocent people. Castile and his girlfriend and her child are the ones who feared for their life, and with good reason.

IMO these constant streams of police killings of black people affects blacks more viscerally than it does others.

Many others sympathize but at a distance. With AAs we feel it because it could be us one day, or a family member, or a friend, or a co-worker.

You haven't walked in those shoes.

[blue-wave]

16. Sadly, there is still so much for humanity to learn.

We treat our pet animals much better than we treat each other. I love animals and don't advocate their abuse, but there is something very wrong with this scenario. Will we ever learn? That is the question asked throughout millennia. Every human being is worthy of dignity and respect. We need to keep moving forward in that direction to the best of our ability.

[Sunlei]

5. Not good to incite violence on social medias, using other peoples quotes. If you want to chat about

essays with your peers take it to private social media chat or write your own paper!

[jcmaine72]

6. I'm not defending what Prof Williams said, but...

...isn't it ironic how reich wingers are suddenly in favor of "hate speech" having consequences? If only they felt this way before their beloved Trumpenfuhrer ran for office.

[Jake Stern]

8. Posts inflammatory shit on a publicly viewable Facebook profile

and then acts shocked when it comes back to bite him in the ass.

If you're going to put crap like that on your wall make sure your privacy is set to "friends" at a minimum or discuss it via IM.

[blue-wave]

9. Don't know what the professor actually wrote

but inciting violence against anyone, any race, any gender, etc. is WRONG!!!!

And it just plays into the hands of the powerful who want the masses divided, so Trump can pass his tax cuts that hurt us all.

[KingDem]

10. You wrote it, you can deal with it, dumbass.

Advocating death, and smiling about it too, may result in the same shit getting thrown back at you.

[brush]

15. Didn't read the posts, huh? He didn't advocate death. He said "saving the life of those...

Last edited Fri Jun 23, 2017, 08:29 PM - Edit history (2)

trying to kill you is the opposite of virtue" and “I’m fed the f**k up with self identified ‘white’s’ daily violence directed at immigrants, Muslim, and sexually and racially oppressed people. The time is now to confront these inhuman a**holes and end this now”.

Read the actual posts for God's sake. That's not advocating violence.

He's saying he's tired of the violence directed towards immigrants, Muslim, and sexually and racially oppressed people.

So he should just shut the fu_k up, don't say anything and just accept the violence?

Did you see the video of that cop killing Philando Castile in cold-blooded murder and then having the audacity to say "he feared for his life" when in actuality Castile, his girlfriend and her child were the ones fearing for their lifes from the seven bullets he pumped into a car full of people.

Don't get me started. Whites may feel sympathy but they don't feel the visceral pain that POCs feel because that doesn't happen to them. We see it happening every week now it seems since everyone has a video camera.

[Major Nikon]

17. He was writing about the first responders who faced down the baseball shooter

...and it was in reference to Rep. Scalise.