Paste BN suspends columnist, university investigates professor over Charlotte tweet
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee is investigating a tweet from one of its law professors after the faculty member and contributing columnist for Paste BN and the Knoxville News Sentinel urged motorists to run over demonstrators blocking traffic in Charlotte, N.C.
Twitter briefly suspended Glenn Reynolds' account Wednesday after he responded to a tweet from a TV news station in Charlotte that showed protesters on Interstate 277.
“Run them down,” he wrote. Reynolds, creator of the Instapundit blog, tweets from the handle @Instapundit.
He posted to Twitter shortly after 10 a.m. ET Thursday that his account had been unblocked after he agreed to delete the offending tweet.
Later Thursday, he issued a statement:
Wednesday night one of my 580,000 tweets blew up. I didn’t live up to my own standards, and I didn’t meet Paste BN’s standards. For that I apologize, to Paste BN readers and to my followers on social media.
I was following the riots in Charlotte, against a background of reports of violence. Joe Bruno of WSOC-9 interviewed a driver whose truck had been stopped by a mob. Trapped in her cab, she 'feared for her life' as her cargo was looted. Then I retweeted a report of mobs 'stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles' with the comment, 'Run them down.'
Those words can easily be taken to advocate drivers going out of their way to run down protesters. I meant no such thing, and I'm sorry it seemed I did. What I meant is that drivers who feel their lives are in danger from a violent mob should not stop their vehicles. I remember Reginald Denny, a truck driver who was beaten nearly to death by a mob during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. My tweet should have said, 'Keep driving,' or 'Don’t stop.'
I have always supported peaceful protests, speaking out against police militarization and excessive police violence in my Paste BN columns, on my website and on Twitter itself. I understand why people misunderstood my tweet and regret that I was not clearer.
Paste BN has suspended Reynolds' column, which he had been writing twice a week, for one month, according to Bill Sternberg, Paste BN's editorial page editor. Archives show that Reynolds has been writing for the national newspaper since at least 2005.
“Paste BN expects its columnists to provide thoughtful, reasoned contributions to the national conversation, on all platforms,” Sternberg wrote. “Glenn Reynolds’ 'Run them down' tweet, in response to a news report about protesters in Charlotte stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles, was a violation of that standard and can be interpreted as an incitement to violence.”
Dean Melanie D. Wilson of the UT College of Law said in a statement Thursday that she and university administrators were investigating the matter, calling Reynolds' post an “irresponsible use of his platform.”
“The university is committed to academic freedom, freedom of speech, and diverse viewpoints, all of which are important for an institution of higher education and the free exchange of ideas,” she wrote. “My colleagues and I in the university’s leadership support peaceful disobedience and all forms of free speech, but we do not support violence or language that encourages violence.”
She called the concerns about the tweet from students and staff along with those from citizens across the country “serious and legitimate.”
University Chancellor Jimmy Cheek released a statement about an hour later supporting Wilson and her comments.
“Wilson’s statement about the faculty member’s social media post reinforces the university’s commitment to fostering a civil and inclusive learning environment,” he said.
Earlier Thursday, Reynolds had defended his tweet.
“Yes, that was my post,” he wrote in an email to the News Sentinel. “It was brief, since it was Twitter, but blocking highways is dangerous and I don’t think people should stop for a mob, especially when it’s been violent.”
Follow Megan Boehnke on Twitter: @meganboehnke