ANN ARBOR — Screenings of the movie “American Sniper” at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University last week sparked controversies that captured national headlines at both colleges, as student groups opposed showing the movie on the campuses.

Critics of the movie say the Clint Eastwood-directed film, which is based on the life story of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in the history of the American military, depicts Iraqis as terrorists and compromises the safety of Arab and Muslim Americans.

At EMU, four students were arrested for “disturbing the peace” while staging a small demonstration inside the auditorium where the movie was showing on Friday, April 12.

At U of M, the administration flip flopped on whether to cancel or show the movie. The Center for Campus Involvement, which runs the UMix building where “American Sniper” was to show, cancelled the screening on April 7, after 200 students sent a letter urging the university to reconsider showing the movie.

“The movie ‘American Sniper’ not only tolerates but promotes anti-Muslim and anti-MENA (Middle East North Africa) rhetoric and sympathizes with a mass killer,” the letter read. 

However, canceling the movie sparked a backlash by other students and alumni, who accused the school of censorship. The administration then back-pedaled and decided to show “American Sniper” as scheduled on April 12.

“It was a mistake to cancel the showing of the movie ‘American Sniper’ on campus as part of a social event for students,” E. Royster Harper, University of Michigan’s vice president for student life, said in a statement. “The initial decision to cancel the movie was not consistent with the high value the University of Michigan places on freedom of expression and our respect for the right of students to make their own choices in such matters.”  

The controversy garnered more attention after the university’s popular football coach, Jim Harbaugh, weighed in on the matter, saying that he will show the movie to his team. 

“Michigan Football will watch ‘American Sniper’! Proud of Chris Kyle & Proud to be an American & if that offends anybody then so be it!” Harbaugh tweeted on Wednesday, April 8.

Photos of “Michigan Snipers” t-shirts that feature the coach’s signature circulated on the web over the weekend. The university denied authorizing the shirts. 

“The issue is not just the film,” said U of M lecturer Matt Stiffler, who teaches Arab American studies. “The issue is that some of the students thought this film would contribute to their feeling of being unsafe in a general climate of harassment.”

Stiffler cited a Huffington Post article posted on April 7 in which a U of M student said she does not have a single Arab or Muslim friend who has not experienced discrimination. 

Stiffler added that it was the students’ freedom of speech to ask for the screening to be cancelled as much as the film itself is protected by the First Amendment.

Stiffler also criticized Harbaugh’s tweet.

“He used his public forum to say that liking the movie is American,” Stiffler said. “He dismissed the feelings of the students who think the movie contributed to the endangerment of their safety.”

Students and activists urged U of M’s Central Student Government to denounce the “Michigan Snipers” shirts on Tuesday, April 14.

“Unless you speak loudly against coach Harbaugh’s ugly comments tonight, this place will be forever known as the American Sniper University, or maybe the American Assassin University,” Ann Arbor-based activist Blane Coleman told the student government.

At EMU, the film continued to show after the arrests, but a later screening was postponed. According to Mona Beydoun, a reporter at EMU’s student newspaper, Department of Public Safety officers arrested the students who interrupted the screening and released them after 40 minutes without pressing charges.

Fatina Abdrabboh, the Michigan director of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said “American Sniper” presents a propaganda machine that targets the Arab American community. She added that there is a correlation between showing hate-inspired movies and increased incidents of racial harassment.

“A concerning part of this is the reaction to Arab and Muslim American concerns of backlash and safety, ranging from dismissal, denial and unwilling to empathize to outright racist and bigoted comments and positions,” she said. “Student voices represent the heart of our community and their safety should be a priority.”