[Boulder, CO]  As controversial college professor, author, and political lightning rod Ward Churchill reads from his new novel, an all-out battle royal erupts between supporters invited by the professor, and literary critics who attended at the request of his publisher.

Ward LeRoy Churchill, former assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and self-proclaimed Native American, is no stranger to provocative speech and the turmoil it creates.  Tonight, though, his words sparked more than outrage from a group one would normally expect to be a dignified, respectful audience.

In 2001, Churchill wrote an essay in which he suggested the victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center were complicit in an American effort to wipe out other cultures, comparing them to Adolf Eichman, one of the organizers of the Nazi holocaust.  Churchill's allegations drew a firestorm of criticism when they came to light in 2005 after he was invited to speak at Hamilton University.

Ward Churchill was fired in July of this year by the UC-Boulder Board of Regents for what they called "a pattern of serious, repeated and deliberate research misconduct that fell below the minimum stand of professional integrity, involving fabrication, falsification, improper citation, and plagiarism." 

Attorneys for the embattled professor claim that the termination was really in retribution for his public remarks, and therefore a violation of his free speech rights.

Tonight, at a gala promotional book reading, held at a local Boulder civic hall and sponsored by his publisher, Ward Churchill read from the first chapter of his new, as yet untitled, novel.  Press releases touted the new novel as "a literary tour de force," and "an exploration of the destructive power of obsession."

The crowd, a hodgepodge of fans, press, literary critics, and scholars, waited breathlessly as Churchill strode to the podium, manuscript in hand.  As he settled in, he smiled, opened to a pre-selected page, cleared his throat, and began to read.

"Chapter one..." he said.  "Call me Ishmael."

Critics and scholars leapt from folding chairs and rushed the small stage, shouting obscenities and hurling whatever they could find, including the chairs.   Supporters, dressed in chicken feathers and souvenir-quality Native American garb, formed a protective ring around a terrified Churchill as he bolted from the stage and disappeared through the building's side door.

Then it was on.  It was as though professional wrestlers had invaded an insane asylum.  Faux indians fell beneath a flurry of fists, feet, and folding chairs.  There was blood.  There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The police intervened, eventually, and over 20 arrests were made.  Twelve people were sent to local area hospitals, mostly for minor injuries, although one Churchill fan spent the evening in intensive care, the victim of a vicious beating with a rubber tomahawk. 

Ward Churchill escaped unharmed, cowering in the rear of a rented Cadillac Escalade as it sped away.  His representatives did not immediately return our calls.  

The car rental agency declined comment on whether the back seat of the returned Escalade required cleaning.