Trinity College: Professor Faces Threats, Investigation for Facebook Posts

In June 2017, Trinity College Professor Johnny Eric Williams shared — on his personal Facebook page —  an anonymous author’s controversial essay, entitled “Let Them Fucking Die.” The essay discussed the actions of a “queer black woman” who saved the life of Representative Steve Scalise, described as “one of the most anti-LGBTQ politicians in Washington.” Two days later, after a black woman was shot to death by police in Seattle, Williams made two additional Facebook posts, leading to criticism that he was endorsing violence against white people. Amidst the criticism, Trinity launched a “review” into Williams’ posts to determine “whether college procedures or policies were broken” and subsequently placed him on leave. FIRE wrote to Trinity on July 3, 2017 calling for the end of the review into Williams’ speech and for his reinstatement.