A New York City college’s latest anti-American stance of exhibiting 36 paintings by al Qaeda terrorists has drawn the ire of the Department of Defense and others.
The John Jay College opened the exhibit that features the for-sale paintings of Gitmo detainees on Oct. 2 and continues to revere the sub-par work as calls mount for the items to be destroyed. Called “Ode to the Sea: Art from Guantanamo Bay,” the collection was curated by art crime professor Erin Thompson with archivist Paige Laino and artist and poet Charles Shields.
New York City Councilman and adjunct professor Joe Borelli took his displeasure on air to “Fox & Friends First” citing widespread outrage over the exhibit by victims of the 9/11 attacks. Upwards of 67 students and faculty died in the 9/11 attacks.
The public university has a history of hate speech and anti-law enforcement faculty members. One professor recently set off a firestorm by tweeting about teaching future “dead cops,” another refused to allow police officers to use a restroom, and another says that white families equal white supremacy.
Supporters of the exhibit have initiated an online petition to prevent the removal of the show.
“Let them know that burning art is something done by fascist and terrorist regimes — but not by the American people,” the petition states.
The public exhibit fails to warn patrons that the works were made by those with direct ties to known terrorists and that one of the detainees is a suspect in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and the 9/11 attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people.