Yahoo News- by Graham WatsonOregon tight end Colt Lyerla has some theories about the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last December, theories he probably should have kept to himself.
But, like a lot of college football players with too much time on their hands, Lyerla took to Twitter to tell his followers that one of the most nightmarish school shootings in American history was actually a government conspiracy.
Lyerla’s school of thought is not new. The CNN show Anderson Cooper 360 profiled a professor at Florida Atlantic, who had similar beliefs and the video Lyerla posted had more than 1.5 million views.
If you have a half hour you should watch this and enlighten yourself.
@ThaRealCLLyerla even got into a little tiff with a Twitter follow who questioned his point of view.
“The parents of the kids that supposedly died in the sandy hook situation are liars,” Lyerla tweeted and later deleted.
We all know this falls under the free speech argument, but Lyerla is also a representative of the University of Oregon and the university stepped in to condemn Lyerla’s thoughts and separate the school from the player.
“Twitter posts attributed to student-athlete Colt Lyerla concerning the tragedy at Sandy Hook are insensitive and offensive, especially those devastated by the shootings, and we have communicated as much to Colt. Though the University of Oregon Department of Athletics as well as the football program have social media expectations in place for our student-athletes, at times, personal opinions go well beyond what we expect from our students. The University of Oregon and Department of Athletics understand that our young men and women have a great deal of freedom of expression on social media but with that freedom comes responsibility. Our prayers and thoughts continue to be with the families of Sandy Hook.”
With the exception of the tweet about calling the families liars, Lyerla has not deleted the bulk of his tweets about Sandy Hook and has retweeted those who support him.
Again, while we’re sensitive to free speech, some things are probably better left off Twitter.
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” Though the University of Oregon Department of Athletics as well as the football program have social media expectations in place for our student-athletes, at times, personal opinions go well beyond what we expect from our students”
This student had every right in the world to speak his mind. Especially concerning this gun grabbing fiasco that has turned against those who are trying to hide the truth.. The people who control this young man only have the right to do so concerning his football participation, that’s it.
They have no right to control what he tweets. He is not a pro football player under contract, therefore, free to communicate as freely as he likes. A good lawyer could tear this schools budget apart if wanted.
The hell with the Oregon athletic department, they can kiss this young mans ass.