On the afternoon of Friday, March 3, an act of terrorism at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill left the university community in disbelief. Why would a former student would ram an SUV into a group of students?
Mohammad Reza Taheri-azar, 22, an Iranian native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill last December, rented a Jeep Cherokee Laredo and launched his attack on a student assembly area known as “The Pit.” Nine people were injured in Taheri-azar’s rampage. He appeared in Orange County District Court on Monday where he was arraigned on 18 charges, including nine counts of attempted murder.
Given that Chapel Hill is a university that prides itself on its welcoming and inclusive environment for students, the question is why Taheri-azar would attempt to kill some of his former classmates. The Associated Press reported that Taheri-azar “allegedly made statements that he acted to avenge the American treatment of Muslims.” He also told a 911 dispatcher that “the reason is to punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world.” Comments he made to police detectives and court officials indicate that Taheri-azar thought he would become a hero in the radical Islam community for injuring and attempting to kill college students.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the attack occurred on a campus that was the scene of a heated – but non-violent – controversy last month. When the campus newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, published a cartoon in February that depicted the Prophet Muhammad in pointing out the tendency of Islam to foment violence and intolerance, some students protested and the administration said that the editor should issue an apology.
In the month since the cartoon was published, the Muslim Student Association, which denounced Friday’s attack, conducted events to promote awareness of their views.
Although we do not know for certain, it seems reasonable to believe that the publication of the cartoon offended Taheri-azar and motivated him in his planning of the attack. If this supposition is true, were the editors of The Daily Tar Heel wrong for publishing the cartoon? The answer is no.
The Daily Tar Heel is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which, among other things, guarantees freedom of the press. It allows the media to publish ideas, words, and images—including cartoons—that could offend certain groups of people. The First Amendment freedoms were written into the Constitution because the Founders saw the need to prevent the government from stifling discussion of ideas — no matter how upsetting or offensive some may find them.
We expect the media — when they are doing their job — to promote ideas that cause us to think and to look at issues from different viewpoints. If the media fails to offer the public different sides of arguments or controversial ideas out of fear that some people will have their feelings hurt, Americans will be left with a lifeless public forum. Vigorous and unapologetic exchanges help people to see the truth and make up their minds.
Student journalists have those same rights, and the same responsibility to their readers to stimulate thought on issues. Isn’t that what a university is all about?
The Daily Tar Heel is not responsible for what occurred on campus Friday afternoon. If journalists always have to think, “What if some unstable person takes this the wrong way….” before writing anything, there would be very few stories written. Nor should anyone fault the editors for their decision to run the cartoon. They did their duty by promoting ideas, as controversial as they might be, to get students to think. There is no bigotry or hatred in that.
The only person who should be held responsible for the rampage is the perpetrator himself. Tarheri-azar will find that his rage over global events is no defense against his criminal actions.
College administrators should not use the tragedy at UNC as an excuse to censor student newspapers in an attempt to “keep the student body safe” or to “prevent students from being offended.” To do so would serve to embolden others like Tarheri-azar, who seek to destroy Americans’ freedom.
Shannon Blosser (sblosser@popecenter.org) is a staff writer for the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Chapel Hill, N.C.