A conservative professor of sociology and criminal justice at UNC-Wilmington was found dead today at his Wilmington home. Professor Mike Adams was forced to resign over what were deemed racist and misogynist tweets and was set to vacate his position on August 1.
Details of his death are sparse. According to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to the Adam’s residence to perform a wellness check. A body was removed from the home, but was not immediately identified as Adams. The Sheriff’s office later confirmed the death of Adams and have mounted a death investigation.
Mike S. Adams was an American conservative political columnist, writer, author and mentor to conservative students on campus at UNC-W. He was known as a staunch champion of the First Amendment who upheld Christian values. In 2007, Adams won a lawsuit against the university for discriminating against for his conservative, Christian views. A federal judge determined that UNC-W had illegally retaliated against Adams for his views and order the university to pay Adams, $665,000 in back pay and legal fees.
More recently, the university was forced to fire Adams after pressure from students, alumni, faculty and others who were up in arms over his tweets tweets about North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus.
One tweet, which he sent on May 29, read;
“This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in a slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go.”
Adams also said that universities should not be forced to close, but rather should shut down “the non-essential majors” such as Women’s Studies.
Adams also tweeted that rioters protesting the killing of George Floyd were “thugs looking for an opportunity to break the law with impunity.” Adams also tweeted his belief that the actions of the Minneapolis police involved with Floyd’s death were “completely indefensible.”
UNCW agreed to pay Adams more than $500,000 as part of an early retirement settlement after petitions garnered more than 120,000 signatures calling for his dismissal.
