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University Coach Fights Back for ‘American Sniper’; University Decides to Screen Movie After All

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american-sniper_612x380_0Perhaps there’s a fighting spirit at the University of Michigan after all — and no surprise that it comes from new football coach Jim Harbaugh.

After cancelling a screening of the blockbuster movie “American Sniper” because it made Muslim students feel “unsafe,” the university has had second thoughts and will show the film . . .

Trying to stay a step ahead of the firestorm unleashed in the wake of the school’s original decision, the Center for Campus Involvement announced on social media Tuesday that the movie will be shown in a “separate forum that provides an appropriate space for dialogue & reflection” . . .

The school cancelled the showing of the film after Muslim students circulated a letter online complaining that it “not only tolerates but promotes anti-Muslim … rhetoric and sympathizes with a mass killer” . . .

The Center for Campus Involvement initially apologized for scheduling the movie, saying in a statement “we deeply regret causing harm to members of our community.” But in a later statement, University Vice President for Student Life E. Royster Harper backed away entirely from the earlier decision, calling it a “mistake.” (Read more from “University Coach Fights Back for ‘American Sniper’; University Decides to Screen Movie After All” HERE)

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Sister of Slain Chapel Hill Muslim Blames ‘American Sniper’ for Creating “Open Season on Islam” [+video]

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By Tom Tillison. The grieving sister of one of three Muslim students killed in North Carolina this week blamed the “American Sniper” movie for contributing to the slaying, saying it is “open season against Islam” in America.

Deah Barakat, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her younger sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, were shot execution-style in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, and neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks was arrested on murder charges, multiple media outlets have reported.

While police are still investigating, they have said a dispute over a parking space may have sparked the killings. But echoing the beliefs of the victims’ family, Dr. Suzanne Barakat told CNN’s Jake Tapper that her brother’s death was a hate crime motivated by anti-Muslim sentiments.

“It has been tremendously heartwarming to see the outpouring of love and support” in the shootings’ wake, Barakat said, though she lamented what she called a pervasive climate of hate and fear in America.

“It’s currently an open season, a time where it is an open season against Islam, Muslims in Washington, Muslims in the general media, dehumanizing Muslims in movies like ‘American Sniper.’” (Read more about the slain Chapel Hill student HERE)

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After Claiming She Was Threatened at Gunpoint for Being a Muslim, UT-Arlington Student Admits She Lied

By Matt Peterson. A UT-Arlington student who claimed she was threatened at gunpoint on campus this week admitted Friday that she’d lied, a university spokeswoman said.

The student told police she hadn’t even been at the school the day she said the incident occurred.

UT-Arlington had been investigating the complaint with Arlington, Denton and University of North Texas police, school spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan said . . .

The university had issued an alert Friday that the student told police she had been followed six miles by a man in a pickup before she reached the campus. She had reported that when she parked at the university, the man threatened her and pointed a gun at her before he left.

The student also posted on social media that the man might have targeted her because she is Muslim. In a Facebook post, she referred to the killings of three Muslim students this week in Chapel Hill, N.C. (Read more from “Muslim Blames American Sniper” HERE)

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Reaction in Baghdad to ‘American Sniper’ Will Surprise You

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By Sussanah George. When Gaith Mohammed, a young man in his twenties with a degree in accounting, went to see “American Sniper” during its opening week at Baghdad’s Mansour Mall, he says the theater was full and rowdy.

“Some people watching were just concentrating, but others were screaming ‘F*ck, shoot him! He has an IED, don’t wait for permission!!’” Mohammed laughed, recounting the film’s many tense scenes when US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper, radios in for authorization to take out a potential threat in his crosshairs . . .

Mohammed says one of the film’s opening scenes, when Kyle spots a woman and child who appear to be preparing to attack US troops during the initial invasion of Iraq, had the entire audience on the edge of their seats.

“When the sniper was hesitating to shoot [the child holding the RPG] everyone was yelling ‘Just shoot him!’” he said. (Read more about the reaction in Baghdad HERE)

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‘American Sniper’ Sets Super Bowl Weekend Record With $31.8 Million

By Brent Lang. “American Sniper” is nearing the $250 million mark after picking up $31.8 million to set a new Super Bowl weekend record.

The previous high-water mark for football’s big weekend was “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour,” which nabbed $31.2 million when it premiered in 2008.

If it continues on this torrid clip, Clint Eastwood’s biopic of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle could challenge “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” as the highest-grossing 2014 release and will pass “The Matrix Reloaded” to become the second-biggest R-rated release in history. It has earned $248.9 million — an unbelievable result for an adult drama about such hard-hitting topics as war and its psychological effects.

“These are superhero movie numbers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. “People are hearing about this movie, talking about it and I imagine it’s leading them to see it multiple times to get to these type of numbers.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Texas Declares “Chris Kyle Day” While Medal of Honor Petition for Kyle Gains Steam (+video)

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By Fox News. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared Feb. 2 as “Chris Kyle Day” in his state, honoring the late sniper as a petition drive also gets underway to consider him for the Medal of Honor.

Kyle, considered to be the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, is the subject of the blockbuster film “American Sniper.”

Though the movie has been controversial, Abbott told Fox News he decided to honor Kyle because “he’s an American hero” . . .

Meanwhile, White House petitions have been launched calling for Kyle to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

One of them states he should be awarded, posthumously, “For his four tours to Iraq which saved hundreds and possibly thousands of US soldiers lives.” (Read more about Chris Kyle Day and the petition HERE)

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‘American Sniper’ Breaks More Records on Anniversary of Chris Kyle’s Death

By Maria Mercedes Lara. American Sniper has once again come out on top at the box office, bringing in a record-breaking $31.9 million over Super Bowl weekend. But the film’s latest success comes at a bittersweet time as Monday marks the two-year anniversary of Chris Kyle’s death.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared Feb. 2 as “Chris Kyle Day,” honoring the Navy SEAL whose story inspired the film that has become the highest-grossing war-themed movie ever. (American Sniper has already brought in $248.9 million in six weeks, beating out previous record-holder Saving Private Ryan.)

Kyle was famously killed in 2013 while he was mentoring Eddie Ray Routh, a troubled vet, at a gun range. Routh was charged with Kyle’s murder and will stand trial on Feb. 11. His attorney told PEOPLE in January that Routh will plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Meanwhile, the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation has set aside Feb. 2 to remember Kyle, writing that he was “an inspiration to many as he lived his values by God, Country and Family.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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‘American Sniper’ Star Making Major Announcement for Veterans

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American Sniper’s Bradley Cooper is scheduled to speak Friday at The National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. for the group “Got Your 6,” to help ensure military veterans are better represented through popular culture.

The organization plans to announce “6 Certified” badges in film crediting, which the group hopes will encourage content creators to avoid “negative, stereotypical or extreme depictions of veterans as ‘charity cases’ or ‘heroes” . . .

Major studios and producers will have an opportunity to earn a “6 Certified” badge that can be displayed during the end credits for a film or TV series, which will be awarded by a designated review committee on a quarterly basis.

Chris Marvin, executive director of Got Your 6, spoke of the group’s goals to reward the industry for accurately portraying veterans. “As Hollywood continues to tell powerful stories about veterans in the military, we want to acknowledge those who work hard to get it right,” he said . . .

Cooper, who has been nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of the late Chris Kyle in American Sniper, has been a longtime supporter of the group. (Read more about the announcement for veterans HERE)

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Just Before He Died, Chris Kyle Said Something Eerie About Obama [+video]

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Chris Kyle‘American Sniper’ is breaking countless box-office records. It had the 2nd highest grossing weekend for any R-rated movie, and is sparking debate across America. It’s hard to remember any movie which has been such a cultural phenomenon, and inflamed passions across the political spectrum.

Watch a message from Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the famous sniper with 160 confirmed kills, as he gives a timely warning about President Barack Obama. He warns us about how deep Obama’s anti-2nd Amendment philosophy is. Isn’t that sad for a constitutional professor to be so opposed to gun rights?

“I don’t know exactly what he’s doing,” Kyle said then, referring to Obama’s efforts to enact gun control according to guns.com, “but I know he’s definitely against the Second Amendment, and he’s trying to ban everything” . . .

“You start putting these bans in effect — you know, these people who don’t know anything about the guns — and they start thinking, ‘Well, who needs 30-round magazines?’” he said. “Really? That’s just opening the door so you can start taking more of our rights.”

“It was there, it was started by our Founding Fathers, and they had the same weapons the military did,” he argued. “We don’t even have that today. But don’t try to take what I’ve already got.”

(Read more about what Chris Kyle said HERE)

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Jesse Ventura Reveals the Reason Why He Refuses to See ‘American Sniper’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: The Blaze“American Sniper” is tops at the box office but don’t expect to see former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura lining up at a theater for it.

Jesse Ventura, a former Navy SEAL, won $1.8 million in a defamation lawsuit last year against the estate of the late Chris Kyle, the SEAL protagonist of the movie, which has sparked debate over whether snipers should be considered heroes. Ventura said Wednesday he won’t see the film partly because Kyle is no hero to him.

“A hero must be honorable, must have honor. And you can’t have honor if you’re a liar. There is no honor in lying,” Ventura told The Associated Press from his winter home in Baja California, Mexico. He also noted that the movie isn’t playing there.

Ventura also dismissed the movie as propaganda because it conveys the false idea that Iraq had something to do with the 9/11 attacks. “It’s as authentic as ‘Dirty Harry,’” he said, referring to fictional movie series starring Clint Eastwood, the director of “American Sniper” . . .

Ventura testified Kyle fabricated a subchapter in his “American Sniper” book in which Kyle claimed he punched out a man, whom he later identified as Ventura, at a California bar in 2006 for allegedly saying the SEALs “deserve to lose a few” in Iraq. Ventura said it never happened. (Read more about what Jesse Ventura reveals concerning his feud with Chris Kyle HERE)

Here’s the video that spawned the lawsuit:

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‘American Sniper’ Widow at a Loss for Words After Chris Kyle’s Sniper Rifle is Auctioned Off (+video)

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Photo Credit: The Blaze[American Sniper widow Taya Kyle] attended [the 2015 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada] to help raffle off some of her husband and former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s personal things. Included in the memorabilia was a rifle that Kyle used while serving overseas.

The rifle was raffled off by Americansnipers.org, a non-profit organization that acts as a support network to “to address the operational equipment needs of American military snipers deployed abroad in the war on terror.”

After the rifle is sold off, the guy leading the raffle at the American Snipers booth tells everyone that they managed to sell 6,267 tickets at $10.00 per ticket. Making the sum of tickets sold to a little over $62,000.00, he then tells Taya that every dime of it is hers.

Taya, who doesn’t know how to express her gratitude, then tells everyone watching:

Now I don’t have words, thank you I don’t even know what to say. It’s a bittersweet journey obviously. And I do feel Chris with me…but I’m also very aware that we all want him here.


(Read more from the story, “Chris Kyle’s Sniper Rifle is Auctioned” HERE)

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‘American Sniper’ Becoming the Top Grossing War Film of All Time

By Pamela McClintock, Ryan Gajewski. American Sniper has set its sights on another record: Within a matter of days, it will overtake Steven Spielberg’s WWII classic Saving Private Ryan to become the top-grossing war-themed film of all time in North America, not accounting for inflation.

Clint Eastwood’s history-making movie jumped the $200 million mark on Sunday, putting it ahead of Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, another WWII title, which topped out at $198.5 million domestically in 2001. American Sniper is distinct from those two film in being set during a modern-day conflict. . .

In celebrating Sniper’s $200 million milestone, Warners domestic distribution chief Dan Fellman said that Eastwood “created a gripping drama with a rare insight into the toll of war that has resonated with audiences in almost every demographic.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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‘American Sniper’ Star Gives Wounded Veterans Memories They Won’t Forget

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Photo Credit: IJreviewBy Chris Enloe. Bradley Cooper has been in the limelight a lot lately, after his Oscar-worthy performance in the box-office smash hit American Sniper.

Two days before the American Sniper premiere of the movie, Bradley Cooper made an appearance at the Brooke Army Medal Center in San Antonio, Texas, for a special preview of the film.

Close to 260 service members and staff at the hospital, including Bradley Cooper and Chris Kyle’s father, Wayne, came together for the screening.

While the movie was being viewed in the hospital’s auditorium, Cooper was in the Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center Rehabilitation Gym handing out signed movie posters and t-shirts to wounded warriors and hospital staffers.

To take on the role of Chris Kyle and to portray him as best he could, Cooper put on 37 pounds of muscle before shooting started on the movie. Cooper dove deep into Kyle’s personal life with his wife Taya, and altered his voice to more accurately sound like Kyle. (Read more about the star giving wounded veterans memories the won’t be forgetting HERE)

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Trial of Eddie Routh, Killer of Chris Kyle Upcoming

By Abby Phillip. Eddie Ray Routh barely knew Chris Kyle when he shot and killed the famed Navy SEAL sniper on a remote Texas shooting range on Feb. 2, 2013.

Routh, who admitted to police that he killed Kyle and the marksman’s friend Chad Littlefield, will have his day in court early next month. By then, news of Kyle’s life, his “unverifiable” legacy and his tragic death will have already ricocheted around the world, thanks to the box office hit “American Sniper.”

The circumstances of Kyle’s death aren’t discussed in detail in the Oscar-nominated biopic, which mostly focuses on Kyle’s career as one of the country’s most praised and skilled snipers. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Ex-Marine Standing Trial for Murder of Chris Kyle to Plead Insanity

By K.C. Baker. On Feb. 2, 2013, nearly four years after Kyle quit the military, he and his friend, Chad Littlefield, were allegedly shot and killed on a Texas gun range while helping former Marine Eddie Ray Routh, then 25, cope with his PTSD. Routh’s trial is set to begin Feb. 11.

“My client will plead not guilty by reason of insanity,” Routh’s attorney, J. Warren St. John, tells PEOPLE. Prosecutors for the State of Texas have said they are not seeking the death penalty in the case.

One growing issue: With the film’s success, finding an impartial jury may be difficult. (Read more about this story HERE)

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Here’s What Clint Eastwood Said to Michael Moore, But Chris Kyle Himself Had the Best Retort to His Critics (+video)

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By Kevin Boyd. Back in 2005, both Clint Eastwood and Michael Moore were being honored for their films at the National Board of Review dinner. Michael Moore was being honored for the anti-gun documentary Bowling for Columbine and Clint Eastwood was being honored for Million Dollar Baby . . .

When Clint Eastwood got up to make a speech after accepting his award, he directed some comments to Michael Moore. According to the Washington Examiner, Heston said:

“Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common – we both appreciate living in a country where there’s free expression,” he said.

Eastwood then added: “But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera – I’ll kill you.”

The audience laughed and Eastwood grinned.

(Read more about what Clint Eastwood said HERE)

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Chris Kyle Himself Had the Best Comeback to ‘American Sniper’ Critics

By Victoria Taft. This exchange, three years ago, between comedian and talk show host Conan O’Brien and Chris Kyle shows why the retired Navy SEAL was so beloved. At the time of the interview, Kyle was touring to publicize his book, American Sniper.

In the nearly-five minute interview, Kyle admits that he wished he had tried out for SEAL Team 6. Considering Kyle was the best sniper in American military history, that comes as a surprise to many.

Conan gets the good-natured Kyle to laugh throughout, asking him about the more than mile-long kill shot Kyle touted in his book. Kyle, in his usual humble way, says he was just a ‘monkey on a gun,’ a suggestion at which O’Brien scoffs. (Read more from this story HERE)

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