Churchill Sues, AP Distorts
Charles Johnson
Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 3:59 pm PDT • Views: 278
Here’s some more crappy, biased reporting from the Associated Press, in their story on Ward Churchill’s announced lawsuit against the University of Colorado, as they come that close to stating outright that Churchill was fired for his “little Eichmanns” rant—which is simply not true, but is what Churchill wants them to report: Fired Colo. professor sues university.
DENVER - A professor who was fired after comparing some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi sued the school Wednesday, saying officials retaliated against him for exercising his right to free speech.
Ward Churchill was ousted by the University of Colorado’s governing Board of Regents after three faculty committees accused him of plagiarism, fabrication and other research misconduct.Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, had triggered a national outcry with an essay comparing some World Trade Center victims to Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann.
The Regents said his dismissal was based on other writings and that his firing was unrelated to his Sept. 11 comments. The academic investigation did not include the Sept. 11 essay but began after university officials concluded it was protected by the First Amendment and that he could not be fired for writing it.
Churchill has denied the research misconduct allegations and called the investigation “a farce” and “a fraud.” His lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, charged that after the essay came to light, “the university vowed to examine every word ever written or spoken by Professor Churchill in an effort to find some excuse for terminating his employment.”
University spokesman Ken McConnellogue said the school stands behind the Regents’ vote to fire Churchill. “We believe this is a matter of academic integrity for the university, so we will not be settling the lawsuit,” he said.
Frank says: