As embattled University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill once again finds himself at the center of a maelstrom, critics are outraged by his remarks about “fragging an officer” while others say the situation is being wrongly twisted.
“I’m a Vietnam vet, and just talking about it is disgusting,” University of Colorado regent Pete Steinhauer said today of the idea of “fragging,” or killing a military officer with an explosive device. “It’s just despicable.”
Yet talking about incendiary topics defines Churchill, said his attorney David Lane.
“No subject is off limits in an intellectual discussion,” Lane said. “This is one more attempt to vilify Ward Churchill.”
Churchill made the remarks during a forum billed as a chance to support conscientious objectors in the Iraqi war and to counter military recruiting pitches targeting students, in Portland, Oregon June 23.
In comments that have caused an uproar on Internet blog sites and with conservative talk show hosts, Churchill said in part, “Conscientious objection removes a given piece of cannon fodder from the fray. Fragging an officer has a much more impactful effect.”
Wednesday night, Churchill told The Post he was not urging anyone to commit acts of violence.
“I’m not advocating a damn thing,” he said. “That was a simple recitation of fact”–a point reiterated by Lane.
The statement regarding the impact of “fragging an officer” is accurate, he said.
“It’s an absolutely true statement,” Lane said. “He’s not saying do it. He’s making an observation.”
Not so, said Governor Bill Owens.
“Words have meaning,” Owens said today, “and when he’s called to account for his words, Ward Churchill has made a lifestyle of saying he was misunderstood and it was taken out of context.”
Even an observation about such a topic as “fragging” carries heavy ramifications, others say.
“I’m against this war. It’s a terrible mistake,” Vietnam veteran Don Mills of Oregon, said of Iraq. “But fragging–that road’s dangerous, and we shouldn’t be going down it.”
Longmont activist Glenn Spagnuolo said the First Amendment exists to protect speech that is controversial.
“If you listen to the whole tape” of Churchill’s talk, Spagnuolo said, “He says, ‘What do you all think?’ If we can’t discuss these issues, what good is freedom of speech?”
Denver activist Mark Cohen said the continued scrutiny of Churchill is tiresome.
“The press is just looking for every little thing they can find about this guy,” Cohen said. “Maybe it’s time to give it a rest.”
Today, Churchill echoed that sentiment. “They’re taking not much of anything and blowing it out again,” he said, adding that he was declining to speak further. “I’m not gonna play.”
Meanwhile, on the anti-Churchill “Pirate Ballerina” blog site that first carried Churchill’s “fragging” statement, at least one reader threatened Churchill’s life for the remarks.
“…I believe that nationalists should punish traitor and devil Churchill with a Walter PPK to the head,” the person identified as “Jim” wrote in part. “This would also have the positive effect of warning other traitors about the price of treason.”
The blog operator, Jim Paine, told The Post in an email today that he left the threat, and his response, on the site as a warning to others.
“Jim: Please refrain from advocating murder, at least on my website, however much you may feel it is justified,” Paine, a military veteran, wrote.
In an essay written shortly after 9/11 that created a furor earlier this year, Churchill compared some of the victims in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center to “little Eichmanns” referring to Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
Owens and others called for Churchill’s removal as a tenured professor, and since then, he has been accused of plagiarism, academic fraud and misrepresenting his Native American heritage. He is under investigation by the school’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct.
Most CU regents declined to comment on whether there should be an inquiry into Churchill’s latest comments, but regent Steve Bosley said it likely falls in the realm of free speech.
“It will sure make a lot of people upset with CU,” Bosley added.
Staff writer Art Kane contributed to this report. Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com
