URI pres. defends professor's comment

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) -- The president of the University of Rhode Island has issued a statement supporting the right of a professor to express his views after he called for the National Rifle Association CEO's "head on a stick."

President David Dooley's comments issued Sunday came after a statement last week in which Dooley distanced the university from history professor Erik Loomis's comments.

Loomis posted the comment online after the shooting in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that killed 20 children and six adults.

Dooley's initial statement drew criticism from URI's faculty union and from professors around the country, who called on Dooley to stand up for academic freedom and freedom of speech.

In Sunday's statement, Dooley writes that the university believes Loomis's remarks are intemperate and inflammatory, but also constitutionally protected