Controversy Erupts Over Penn Prof's Tweet
September 14, 2012 at 5:56 pm
When they're not debating the merits of Twitter, some professors are actually, well, using the site. On Wednesday, Penn professor of Religious Studies, Anthea Butler, tweeted her response to the controversial independent film, Innocence of Muslims (yes, we just linked to Wikipedia—get over it). Butler's tweets suggest a link between the film and the recent attacks on US embassies as well as asserts that filmmaker "Sam Bacile" should be jailed:
Good Morning. How soon is Sam Bacile going to be in jail folks? I need him to go now.When Americans die because you are stupid… And people do to jail for speech. First Amendment doesn’t cover EVERYTHING a PERSON says.Butler's tweets received an onslaught of negative attention in the media over the past few days, prompting Butler herself to publish a defense yesterday in USA Today. Still, her interpretation of the First Amendment remains highly contested.