Churchill Speech Tonight Back On at CU
After a lawsuit was filed in federal court today by various groups on behalf of Ward Churchill, CU relented and rescinded its cancellation. He'll be speaking at 7 p.m. at C.U. in the Glenn Miller Ballroom.
CU's decision also came just hours after Churchill, American Indian Movement leader Russell Means and several organizations representing students and faculty filed suit claiming CU had violated Churchill's free speech rights. In an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court lawsuit, Churchill said it is critical he be able to speak.
"My comments ... have caused a great public outcry and I was intending to explain my meaning to the audience, in particular the CU student body," Churchill said. He said that according to published reports the CU regents are investigating whether he should be terminated and that Gov. Bill Owens has called on the regents to fire him.
"In an effort to explain to the public what my comments actually were and what they were meant to be, it was very important that I be able to make this speech on a matter of such burning public concern," Churchill said.
As to the lawsuit,
In the federal lawsuit, his lawyers - David Lane and Darold Killmer - said that Churchill allegedly made comments to the effect that the Pentagon and World Trade Center were targeted for a reason, and that the attacks were a direct result of American foreign and economic policy.
Churchill alleged that "certain victims of the attack should not be viewed as entirely 'innocent' victims as they had helped fuel the American military/industrial machine," the lawsuit claimed.
"We had heard from professor Churchill as well as from others that there were threats to his safety as well as to students, and our concern is that there had not been sufficient planning for the event itself," Stump said.
The lawsuit said the cancellation was a sham.
"Security has nothing to do with the defendants (CU) canceling Professor Churchill's speech," the lawsuit said. "Evidence of this is that the University of Colorado apparently believes Professor Churchill's presence on campus does not involve any security issues as he continues to teach five classes per week on campus. He continues to work in his on-campus office and daily walks freely about the campus with no security provided by the university, and apparently none needed."
Means said in an affidavit that he and three car-loads of his friends and associates have traveled hundreds of miles from South Dakota to hear Churchill and that his First Amendment right to hear Churchill and participate in discussions and debate had been violated by CU.
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