OGDEN, Utah — A criminal justice professor at Weber State University has tendered his resignation after making a series of Twitter posts that promoted violence and caused safety concerns, the university announced Wednesday.
Some of Scott Senjo's controversial tweets were replies to other tweets about protests around the country.
In one tweet, Senjo replied to a tweet that showed an NYPD vehicle approaching a crowd of protesters.
"That's now how I would have driven the car into the crowd," Senjo replied.
In another tweet, Senjo replied to a tweet about protests in Columbus. The original tweet talked about police using tear gas and wooden bullets on protesters.
"Lucky for you it was wooden bullets. That's not what I would have used," Senjo wrote.
In other Twitter replies, Senjo acquiesced to using real bullets on protesters, insulted a protester who lost an eye to a rubber bullet, implied a journalist's injuries suffered during a protest should've been more severe, discounted the reason for a fiery protest in Minneapolis and suggested sending Congresswoman Ilhan Omar "back to Somalia."
"Those are my tweets but I don't stand by them and will have to suffer the consequences of my recklessness. I resigned from the university. I made those tweets in the sordid atmosphere of Twitter knife fights where sarcastic put downs and tasteless humor are often the norm. I failed to respect my role as a college professor in the hyper-emotional atmosphere of the recent police brutality protests. I apologize for my Twitter contributions. In the aggregate, they reflect a great deal of ugliness," Senjo said in a statement sent to FOX 13.
After receiving an "outpouring" of emails and social media posts about Senjo's tweets, Weber State University placed him on paid leave Tuesday to conduct a review of the situation.
"The Twitter posts in question were hurtful and inconsistent with the values of Weber State University and our work to create an inclusive and welcoming environment. We know the views expressed in these tweets make many of our students and members of our campus community feel isolated or unsupported," WSU's statement said.
On Wednesday, Senjo emailed his department chair and college dean to submit his resignation.
"I studied the situation and the public fury is too great. I have to resign immediately. There’s no other option," Senjo's email said.
Senjo's resignation is effective immediately and his Twitter account is no longer active.
