Controversial North Carolina Professor found dead weeks after backlash over his social media comments where dubbed the State governor ‘Massa Cooper’ and compared coronavirus restrictions to living in a ‘slave state’

A controversial North Carolina Professor has been found dead weeks after a backlash over his social media comments which called the state governor 'Massa Cooper' and compared coronavirus to living in a 'slave state'.  

A public information officer at the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office said deputies found the body of University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor Mike Adams, 55, while performing a wellness check at his home at around 2pm, according to CNN.

Deputies were conducting a death investigation, but investigators did not release additional details about the circumstances of Adams' death.

Adams' most controversial tweet referred to Roy Cooper, the state's Democratic governor, as 'Massa', which means 'Master'. 'Massa' was used in literature and representations of black people during the slave era, suggesting it was the way they referred to their owners. 

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A public information officer at the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office said deputies found the body of University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor Mike Adams, 55, (pictured) while performing a wellness check at his home at around 2pm yesterday afternoon

Mike Adams, a tenured sociology and criminology professor, was due to retire early on 1 August. 

He recently reached a $504,702 settlement with the university for lost salary and lost retirement benefits.  

A controversy occurred in late May when Adams tweeted about the executive order limiting social gatherings signed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Adams tweeted on May 29: 'This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. 

'I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. 

'Massa Cooper, let my people go!'   

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A controversy occurred in late May when Adams tweeted about the executive order limiting social gatherings signed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper (pictured on July 14) during the coronavirus pandemic

The tweets, which the university denounced as 'vile,' prompted more than 60,000 people to sign an online petition to get Adams fired from his job. 

A day earlier, Adams tweeted: 'Don't shut down the universities. Shut down the non essential majors. Like Women's Studies.;

In a statement to CNN on June 6, UNCW called Adams' messages 'vile and inexcusable.'

'We are listening to the outrage being expressed regarding the vile and inexcusable comments made by a UNCW faculty member,' the university said in the statement. 

'However, we are not just listening; we can confirm we are very carefully and assertively reviewing our options in terms of how to proceed. We are not able to comment further at this time, as this is a personnel matter.'

Adams was the author of books entitled: 'Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts 'Womyn' on Campus'; Letters to a Young Progressive: How to Avoid Wasting Your Life Protesting Things You Don’t Understand; and 'A 'Queer Muslim' Jihad'. 

According to Chancellor Jose V. Sartarelli, Adams was due to retire on 1 August, according to a statement posted on the university's website.

'Over the past several weeks, many of you have inquired about the status of a UNCW faculty member, Dr. Mike Adams, in light of the public attention generated by comments he made on his personal social media channels,' Sartarelli said. 

'We can now share the update that after a discussion with Chancellor Sartarelli, Dr. Adams has decided to retire from UNCW, effective August 1, 2020.'