Moises Bernal Puentas, who was adult education manager at the Chicago college, reportedly made the comments during an Oct. 18 "No Kings" protest against President Donald Trump.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) agrees that his comments were inflammatory but argues that Puentas had a free speech right to say what he did.
Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute, who is fervently dedicated to defending people's constitutional rights, disagrees.
"Any professor that openly encourages the murdering of anyone, especially those in law enforcement committed to protecting our nation from criminals and criminal activity, should be fired on the spot," he insists.
Aaron Terr, FIRE's director of public advocacy, tells The College Fix that while there are narrow exceptions to the First Amendment for certain categories of speech like true threats and incitement, they "don't apply here."
A true threat, he says, is a "serious expression of intent to physically harm an individual," which is different from what he calls "heated political rhetoric."
Dacus, meanwhile, also takes issue with Puentas encouraging the crowd to take up arms in opposition to "this fascist system."
"The professor should know that he cannot encourage a crowd to actively take up arms against the government," the attorney notes. "This is clearly crossing the line, and this college did the right thing."
A spokesperson for the college system told WorldNetDaily that Puentas is "not employed by Wilber Wright College or any affiliated colleges" and that the system "does not tolerate violence nor incitement under any circumstances."
Terr says the college must justify firing Puentes by showing his speech significantly disrupted its operations or so undermined his ability to do his job that it outweighed his interest in speaking freely as a citizen.
The Department of Homeland security has turned the incident over the Department of Justice for investigation.
