Prof doubles down on 'Happy 9/11' tweet despite university's condemnation
Journalism professor Justin Martin defended his tweet by mentioning an incident in Jordan wherein Al Qaeda “killed dozens of people,” and suggested that the 9/11 attacks are more widely “denounced” because America is a “rich” country.
On Wednesday’s anniversary of 9/11, a professor at Northwestern University’s Qatar campus posted a tweet downplaying the attacks and accusing the U.S. of being “complicit” greater atrocities.
A Northwestern University professor’s “Happy 9/11” tweet has been condemned by his own university, which called his comments “disgraceful.” The professor, however, appears to be standing by his tweet and offering no apologies.
On Wednesday’s 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Justin Martin, a journalism professor at Northwestern’s Qatar campus, tweeted a “Happy 9/11,” claiming “more than 8,441 civilians died in Yemen this year helped by U.S. arms dealt to Saudi Arabia & UAE.”
“The U.S. is complicit in far more terror than it has ever suffered,” the professor wrote.
University president Morton Shapiro and Provost Jonathan Holloway condemned the tweet in a Thursday news release, explaining that while Martin’s “views are his own,” “Northwestern University finds it disgraceful that he makes light of the horrors of 9/11.”
“This is insensitive and deeply disappointing particularly on the anniversary of the terror attacks,” the university said.
In a follow-up tweet, Martin recalled an incident he witnessed in 2005 in Amman, Jordan, when Al Qaeda bombed several hotels and “killed dozens of people,” adding that “all terrorism should be denounced, not just in rich countries.”
Martin, just hours after the university’s statement, responded on Twitter, saying:
”I don’t agree I made light of 9/11, but rather criticized disparity in how terror victims are acknowledged in different places, but I understand the tweet angered some.”
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