U of T professor criticized for tweeting that Us citizens deal with 9/11 like an ‘annual pity party’

An affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto is coming below significant fireplace online today soon after tweeting on September 11 that the U.S. was “acquiring its dumb small once-a-year pity social gathering yet again.”

Jonathan Weisberg, an accomplished academic with dozens of printed functions and a PhD from Rutgers, revealed the tweet in query at 6:23 a.m. on the 20th anniversary of the environment-switching 9/11 attacks.

It wasn’t very long just before Americans and Canadians alike started off likely right after Weisberg for his perceived insensitivity about what continues to be the deadliest non-state terrorist assault in recorded human heritage.

One more Canadian prof, Gad Saad of Concordia University in Montreal, retweeted Weisberg’s message that identical afternoon, at which issue it started attaining traction — and triggering friction — south of the border.

“Be aware that the butchering of 3,000 harmless people today does not set off this hero’s ire,” wrote Saad, himself no stranger to controversial views or problematic tweets. “What an execrable cretin.”

Weisberg deleted the tweet in mild of the monumental backlash, but it experienced by now been screenshotted and shared commonly on the social network.

As of Monday, the U of T professor’s Twitter account has been set to non-public, but folks continue to tweet to and about him at a charge of each individual pair of minutes. Some Us citizens surface to be tweeting threats. Other individuals are calling on U of T to hearth Weisberg for his remarks.

“This tweet by Prof. Jonathan Weisberg is offensive and insensitive. A mate died in all those assaults, and his widow/youngsters continue to grieve. Fully unacceptable,” wrote 1 Twitter person, tagging U of T. “He must be introduced from the college. Will you do the correct issue?”

“How morally bankrupt do you have to be to tweet something like this? Disgrace on you, Jonathan Weisberg,” wrote an additional. “This is over and above the pale.”

“Shame on U of T for protecting employment of this professor,” wrote a different commenter however. “Academic freedom is crucial but its very clear that Jonathan Weisberg is a hateful individual of irredeemable character. He is not suitable to instruct students allow alone to serve shoppers at a Starbucks.”

Weisberg has nonetheless to react to a request for comment from blogTO, but a University of Toronto spokesperson did affirm on Monday that the administration is mindful of the controversial tweet.

“As a foremost world wide community investigation college, we have a extended-standing motivation to freedom of speech and educational independence,” said the spokesperson in a assertion to blogTO. “All members of our community are bound by Canadian and provincial legislation.”