West Point Professor Who Called Legal Scholars Lawful Targets Resigns

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Members of the Class of 2019 join a ceremonial parade Aug. 15, 2015, at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Jeremy Bunkley/U.S. Army
Members of the Class of 2019 join a ceremonial parade Aug. 15, 2015, at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Jeremy Bunkley/U.S. Army

A professor who was criticized for writing an article calling some legal scholars treasonous and "lawful targets" in the war on terror has resigned a month after he was hired to teach a law course at the U.S. Military Academy.

An academy spokesman said William C. Bradford resigned on Sunday. He said no further details will be released because of privacy and legal constraints.

Bradford made the comments in an article for the National Security Law Journal earlier this year. In the article, he said legal scholars who criticize U.S. tactics in the war on terror are helping ISIS undermine America. He argued that such academics should be considered enemy combatants and charged with treason.

The publication, which is edited by students at George Mason University in Virginia, apologized in an editorial last week in a response to a barrage of criticism from its readers. Editor-in-Chief Rick Myers repudiated the article, saying the publication is reviewing its selection process "to ensure that we publish high quality scholarly articles."

Bradford's 95-page article says that liberals dominate legal academia and use their position to undermine public support of U.S. military efforts to combat ISIS. He advocates a number of measures to counter "Islamist sympathizers and propagandists" in academia, including firing them, requiring loyalty oaths and charging them with treason.

"The views in the article are solely those of Dr. Bradford and do not reflect those of the Department of Defense, the United States Army, or the United States Military Academy," Lt. Col. Chris Kasker, a West Point spokesman, said Tuesday in a prepared statement.

Bradford was hired by the academy Aug. 1 and taught five lessons in a common core law course before he resigned, Kasker said.

Bradford told The Washington Post in an e-mail on Tuesday that statements in his article were "taken out of context" by people who hadn't read the entire piece.

The resignation was first reported by The Guardian.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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