Edinburgh University LGBT+ convener resigns following 'death to police' tweets

Ada J. Wells, LBGT+ Convener at the Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA), has resigned following controversy over tweets that appeared to incite violence against police officers.

Edinburgh University, old college building. Picture; Ian Georgeson

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Wells posted a tweet on August 8 which said: “I sure hope more police die today”.

She then issued a similar message in the next week stating that “the police are a violent and oppressive force that exists to maintain existing power”.

Old College building, Quad. Picture; Ian Georgeson

Following the incident, Wells resigned stating that the abuse she had received following the tweets as one of the main reasons.

Despite former controversial incidents, Wells stated that she was not put under pressure by the university to leave her role and that it was entirely their choice to resign from their position as LGBT+ Convener.

Speaking on the tweet, Ada Well said: “I wrote that comment in the context of a wider criticism of police brutality both in the US and the UK.

“I object to the way that police officers who die in the line of duty are always celebrated as heroes, and never held accountable for the brutality that they likely participated in or witnessed while alive.”

Old College building, Quad. Picture; Ian Georgeson

Despite claims that her comments in regards to the police had become a distraction from the wider LGBT+ cause, Wells said: “I absolutely think this controversy has become a needless distraction, but I take no responsibility for that.

“If it hadn’t been my tweets, the same bigoted people who oppose LGBT+ liberation would have found other ways to vilify and disrupt my work.”