Academic Hypocrisy? University Protects Painting of Beheaded Trump

 

A painting at a University of Alaska Anchorage art gallery showing an actor holding the severed head of President Trump has sparked nationwide anger.

 

The painting shows actor Chris Evans, who played Captain America in a Hollywood film, holding the severed head of Trump. It was created by Assistant Professor of Painting Thomas Chung.

 

"After Trump was elected, I spent days just weeping," Chung told KTUU-TV.

 

CBN News decided not to show the entire image of the painting due to its crass and violent nature.

 

Alaska Dispatch News reports University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen issued a statement saying, "A vital and vibrant university, regardless of the campus, must be a place of ideas and debate (and) a place where the most controversial ideas abound, and where assumptions and positions are openly tested."

 

But Paul Berger, a former adjunct professor at UAA who went to see the painting, told KTUU he questions whether it's appropriate for display at a publicly-funded institution.

 

"Had the roles been reversed, and it was Obama's head hanging there, I think the outrage would be fantastic," Berger said.

 

It also comes at a time when some conservatives are not even allowed to speak on college campuses or do so under threat of violence.

 

The painting brought an avalanche of hate mail and threats against the artist, Thomas Chung, who requested police protection.