Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

(Video: Fox News)

Following an announcement by The State University of New York Brockport that it will host a convicted cop-killer in a presentation to the student body, adjunct lecturer Daniel Varrenti has resigned his post at the university.

Varrenti is himself a former police chief of Brockton, NY and said his issues with the university did not begin suddenly. Rather, certain emails sent by president Heidi McPherson in 2020 where she condemned law enforcement caused him concern. He recalled that she made assumptions about police “without having any of the facts.”

“Fast forward to now, inviting a convicted murderer to college – wanting that individual to speak to their student – frankly goes against everything I’ve always worked for and believed in,” he told Fox News host Steve Doocy on “Fox and Friends” on Friday.

“That was enough for me to say I’ve had enough of teaching at this college,” he declared.

Ironically, SUNY Brockport was voted “Best College for Criminal Justice Major in New York State” in 2019 by Zippia.com.

Anthony Bottom, now known as Jalil Abdul Muntaqim after converting to the religion of Islam, will be giving a speech on April 6 entitled “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim.”

The university’s announcement of the event reads, “Mr. Muntaqim joined the Black Panther Party at age 16 and the Black Liberation Army at 18. In 1971, he was convicted in the killing of two New York City Police Officers. He spent nearly 50 years in prison for this crime before being released on parole in 2020.”

Although SUNY Brockport’s original description of the event read,  “an intellectual conversation on his time with the Black Panthers and serving nearly 50 years as a political prisoner,” a flood of backlash prompted a revised statement in which the university qualified it does not condone Mr. Muntaqim’s past criminal deeds.

Still, it’s a bridge too far for Varrenti, who rejects the characterization that Muntaqim is a “political prisoner.”

“When you wind up in prison for murdering two people, you’re considered a prisoner of the prison system, and that’s where you belong,” he said. “And frankly, in my opinion, he should have stayed for the rest of his life.”

He added he believes that SUNY’s decision is part of a syndrome in American universities.

“I think they have their priorities all messed up,” he said.

Varrenti is a graduate of SUNY Brockport and previously loved teaching at his alma mater, but he’s not sure if he’ll ever teach again.

“I just can’t be affiliated with a college that wants to promote a murderer to their students,” he said.

The university expects a large number of police on campus for the event. Naturally, the mal-adjusted leftist snowflakes that evidently populate the university have been given the right to skip classes on that day over the possibility of emotional distress from such a police presence.

As BPR reported, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Brockport Linda Delene announced Tuesday:

“For some students, if the event proceeds in person, the possible advent of large numbers of police on campus may be another traumatizing event,” Delene wrote. “Further, some students may choose to not attend classes due to personal safety concerns on April 6, 2022.”

“Our attendance policy includes the phrase ‘other circumstances beyond the control of the student’ which will be accepted in this particular situation,” Delene added.

However, the university has since decided to avoid the issue altogether and has removed further funding for the in-person event, moving it instead to an online format.

“Removing funding from this celebration of a cop-killer is the absolute minimum @Brockport could do. They did not need ‘new information’ to come to this decision — Muntaqim’s murderous history is no secret,” said Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch.

Authorities said that in 1971, Bottom and his accomplices lured Officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini to an apartment building in Harlem before shooting them from behind. Joseph Piagentini is said to have begged for his life, but Anthony Bottom just kept shooting him.

In a nearly identical case, two NYPD officers were ambushed and killed in a Harlem apartment in January where Officer Jason Rivera, 22 and his partner Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, were called to an apartment. The suspect later died from a gunshot wound to the head administered by a third officer who arrived as backup. Though it was indeed an ambush, it is believed the concerned mother who made the call to police was unaware her mentally unstable son was hiding illegally obtained firearms in his bedroom.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Frank Webster

Staff Writer

Frank (Chip) Webster is a musician and composer, former teacher of percussion and U.S. Army Infantry veteran. He holds a degree in English from Arizona State University.

Latest posts by Frank Webster (see all)

• The 2024 eclipse, a lesson in reverence and faith … and a reason to believe - April 10, 2024
• Ukraine lawmaker pleased with Dem performance, says early results from midterms ‘very good’ for us - November 9, 2022
• Casey Anthony sits for first TV interview since being acquitted for murdering her 2-yr-old daughter - November 9, 2022

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.