Controversial North Carolina professor found dead

Conservative professor Mike Adams, a lightning rod for criticism at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, has died. He was 55. Adams was a syndicated columnist who won a First Amendment lawsuit against the school in 2014 claiming it denied him a promotion over his beliefs about abortion, same-sex marriage, and other topics. The tenured sociology and criminology professor recently reached a half-million-dollar settlement with the university over his upcoming retirement. More than 60,000 people had signed an online petition asking the school to fire him over social media posts in which he called North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, “Massa Cooper” and compared coronavirus restrictions to slavery.

What happened? Authorities discovered Adams’ body on Thursday while performing a wellness check at his home, Lt. J.J. Brewer of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office told Raleigh’s News & Observer. Deputies are conducting a death investigation, but officials have not released any additional details.

Dig deeper: Read Marvin Olasky’s interview with Adams in 2009.