Dec 1, 2005 8:55 am US/Mountain
College Republicans Protest At Churchill's Class
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
Members of the College Republicans held a banner listing the names of people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks outside University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill's classroom Wednesday.
They wanted Churchill, who has said some of the victims were not innocent, to mark the names of each person he believes deserved to die in the attacks. Jeff O'Holleran of the College Republicans said students would stage the protest each Wednesday until the end of the semester.
"We're just basically trying to call him out on what he said," said O'Holleran, who filmed the protest.
TV Footage of the protest showed Churchill swatted at the camera with his hand as students confronted him on his way into class.
Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, ignited a firestorm earlier this year when an essay he wrote following the terrorist attacks was publicized after he was invited to speak at Hamilton College in New York. In the essay, "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens", he hailed the "gallant sacrifices" of the "combat teams" that struck America.
He said although the victims were civilians they were not innocent. He went on to describe the World Trade Center victims as "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who organized Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's plan to exterminate Europe's Jews.
Churchill has refused to retract the statement but said he wishes he had phrased it differently.
Churchill's lawyer, David Lane, said Churchill supported the students' right to protest outside his classroom.
"Although he disagrees with their position he applauds their right to put it forth without fear of reprisal which is all he's asking for himself," Lane said.
Following the controversy surrounding the his essay and calls for his removal, Churchill was accused of plagiarism and fabrication in his research. A committee of academics is looking into those allegations.
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