University of Maryland Administrator: Trayvon Martin Proves ‘It Is Legal to Hunt Down’ Children

A University of Maryland administrator warned students in a welcome-back e-mail about ”radical factions of gun owners . . . challenging the very fabric of the nation,” informing them that George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of Trayvon Martin meant it’s now “legal to hunt down and kill American children in Florida.”

“This year, the most activist Supreme Court in the history of the United States and radical factions of gun owners, gun manufacturers, and marijuana users are challenging the very fabric of the nation,” William Dorland, the university’s Honors College director, wrote in the e-mail to students, according to FoxNews.com.

Dorland said he didn’t intend to offend anyone in his e-mail and didn’t consider his statements political. He does not interject his personal views when he engages with students, and sees his role as apolitical, he claimed. ”You can ask the students. I will take the side of Pope Benedict on an argument, and the next day take the side of a new pope,” he said.

In defense of his e-mail, Dorland said he was “trying to stir some student interest” in an upcoming lecture by former NAACP chairman Julian Bond.

Bond has drawn attention for his controversial comments about conservative politics and causes. Earlier this year, for example, Bond argued the Tea Party’s status as “the Taliban wing of American politics” made the IRS’s targeting of related groups legitimate.