On April 23, 2015, former SUNY Oswego professor Dr. Warren Weinstein was killed in an United States counterterrorism operation, the White House announced Wednesday.
According to an email sent out to students and staff of the university, Dr. Weinstein left Oswego in 1979 to work with U.S. aid for people in developing countries. He was abducted more than three and a half years ago in Pakistan, and it is reported that he was inadvertently killed during a U.S. operation in the area.
In a statement made by SUNY Oswego President Deborah Stanley, she expressed Weinstein’s devotion and character, saying, “Dr. Weinstein devoted his life to making the world a better place. He left us to serve others in some of the world’s most impoverished and troubled regions. His life was an inspiration that will not die. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.”
Dr. Weinstein’s wife also made a statement in which she stated that the ultimate blame belongs to those that abducted him, saying, “the cowardly actions of those who took Warren captive and ultimately to the place and time of his death are not in keeping with Islam and they will have to face their God to answer for their actions.”
The White House and President Obama have since issued statements regarding their sorrows towards the situation and Dr. Weinstein’s family.