Doctored photo of Ward Churchill shows him without gun and without his right arm

On the heels of USA Today's doctored photograph of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week, a WorldNetDaily inquiry into an altered photo of a gun-toting Ward Churchill has prompted a Seattle-area college to remove the image from its website.

Shoreline Community College had electronically erased an AK-47 rifle from the image of the controversial University of Colorado professor, who is slated to speak at the Washington campus Nov. 8.

But shortly after WND interviewed school officials about the doctored photo, Churchill's image was completely removed from the page promoting his appearance.

Original photo of Ward Churchill

"I think we're going to take the photograph off," Scott Saunders, director of student programs at Shoreline, told WorldNetDaily when asked about the display of Churchill, newly disarmed in both weapon and right limb.

Churchill has come under fire this year for comparing the victims of the 9-11 World Trade Center terror attacks to Nazis while praising the suicide hijackers for their "gallant sacrifices."

He also suggested anti-war activists should support those who kill their officers, and has said he wants the "U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether."

Judy Yu, SCC's director of communications, explained the college received only two publicity photographs of Churchill from the public-relations agency handling the professor.

"One had a cigarette in his mouth, and the other had a gun," she said. "Obviously, we cannot support guns, so it was taken out," noting the college also did not wish to endorse smoking by using the other picture. "I would have looked harder for another photograph."

"It's not a news story bound by journalistic integrity," Yu continued, noting the doctored photo was simply part of a promotion to get people to attend the speech.

WorldNetDaily's screen capture of SCC's website shows display of image doctored to avoid showing gun

"If the only other photo is with a cigarette, I guess we'll have a photograph with a cigarette in it," Saunders added with a laugh. "At least it won't be altered."

While the doctored photo has been removed from the page advertising the lecture series, the image still remains on the college's server, with an identifying name of "alWardChurchill," possibly a reference to its altered state.

Earlier this week, USA Today made headlines when it admitted it breached its own editorial standards by doctoring an Associated Press photograph of Condoleezza Rice, making it appear she had a "demon-eyesing stare."

USA Today gave Condoleezza Rice the glaring look on the left by doctoring the original AP photo on the right

The nationwide newspaper removed it with this explanation:

Editor's note: The photo of Condoleezza Rice that originally accompanied this story was altered in a manner that did not meet USA Today's editorial standards. The photo has been replaced by a properly adjusted copy. Photos published online are routinely cropped for size and adjusted for brightness and sharpness to optimize their appearance. In this case, after sharpening the photo for clarity, the editor brightened a portion of Rice's face, giving her eyes an unnatural appearance. This resulted in a distortion of the original not in keeping with our editorial standards.

The case of Churchill's disappearing gun is already getting some reaction on the LittleGreenFootballs blog, with entries such as: