North Carolina authorities discovered Thursday the body of a controversial white university professor who recently announced his retirement amid a backlash over his comments on social media in which he called state governor “Massa Cooper” and compared coronavirus restrictions with living in a “slave state”.
Lt. JJ Brewer of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said officers found the body of 55-year-old University of North Carolina professor Wilmington Mike Adams while conducting a wellness checkup at his home, according to News & Observer of Raleigh.
Investigators did not reveal additional details about the circumstances of Adams’ death.
Adams, a tenured professor of sociology and criminology, was due to retire early on August 1. He recently struck a $ 504,702 settlement with the university for lost wages and lost retirement benefits.
In 2016, Adams published an article about a student activist with the title “A ‘Muslim Queer’ Jihad,” reported News & Observer of Raleigh.
Another controversy occurred in late May when Adams tweeted about the executive order limiting social gatherings signed by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Adams tweeted that he dined with six men at a six-seat table and “felt like a free man who did not live in the slave state of North Carolina.” Then he wrote: “Massa Cooper, let my people go!”
The tweets, which the university denounced as “vile,” led more than 60,000 people to sign an online petition to fire Adams from his job.
