"What he said about 9/11 in his essay was not part of our discussion."

Said University of Colorado Board of Regents chair Patricia Hayes, explaining the firing today of Ward Churchill. Churchill will file suit claiming violation of his First Amendment rights.

Churchill touched off a firestorm in 2005 after an essay surfaced which he wrote shortly after 9/11 likening some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust.

University officials concluded he could not be fired for his comments because they were protected by the First Amendment, but they launched an investigation into allegations that he fabricated or falsified his research and plagiarized the work of others.

So, was he fired for the reason the University gives or for the opinions he stated?