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Trinity College Professor Johnny Eric Williams Thursday issued a public apology and said he was in hiding far from Connecticut as the campus reopened amid a furor over his recent controversial Facebook posts.
Williams said his posts were not a call for violence against white people, as some claimed when the posts spread across social media. Some of his colleagues spoke out in support of Williams, who fled Hartford after receiving death threats.
The controversial pair of Facebook posts included an inflammatory and profane hashtag — "Let Them [expletive] Die" — that was widely shared on social and conservative media, leading to the threats against Williams and calls for him to be fired.
"It was overwhelming for my family," Williams said. "I have to look out for my family. I've got young kids."
On Wednesday, Trinity President Joanne Berger-Sweeney shut down the campus because of the threats and said the school would investigate whether Williams had violated college policies.
Williams, who has said the firestorm over his Facebook posts was caused by misinterpretations of them, also emailed an apology Thursday to the campus for the uproar that ensued.