Police: Nevada Professor Shot Self on Campus to Protest Trump

Police say a longtime sociology professor at the College of Southern Nevada is facing felony gun charges after he apparently shot himself in the arm in what he claimed was a protest of President Donald Trump, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Mark J. Bird, 69, was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound outside a bathroom on the campus where he taught since 1993. Police booked him on one charge of discharging a weapon within a prohibited structure, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and possessing a dangerous weapon on school property. 

Bird was spotted stumbling out of the bathroom in the Charleston campus K building around 8:15 a.m. on August 28 when he collapsed in the hallway in front of witnesses according to a police report obtained by the Review-Journal. Bird told the witnesses that he had shot himself in the arm to protest Trump and his policies. The report did not elaborate on which policies the professor was protesting. 

According to the report, campus police found a $100 bill taped to a mirror inside the bathroom along with a note that said, "For the janitor" to apparently try and compensate for the bloody mess he left inside the bathroom. Police also found a black-and-white .22-caliber Derringer two-shot pistol and one spent shell casing. 

Bird has taught at the College of Southern Nevada since 1993, and worked as an emeritus faculty member there, college spokesman Richard Lake said. 

The professor's preliminary hearing is set for Sept 17 in Las Vegas Justice Court. 

Photo: Getty Images


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