Submitted photo UT law professor Glenn Reynolds authors a popular political blog, InstaPundit.

By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel

The University of Tennessee is investigating a tweet by one of its law professors after the faculty member and contributing columnist for USA TODAY and the News Sentinel urged motorists to run over demonstrators blocking traffic in Charlotte, N.C.

The USA TODAY editorial page editor, meanwhile, said Glenn Reynolds had violated the newspaper’s standards and Reynold’s twice-a-week column would be suspended for a month.

“I didn’t live up to my own standards, and I didn’t meet USA TODAY’s standards,” Reynolds said in a statement on the USA TODAY website. “For that I apologize, to USA TODAY readers and to my followers on social media.”

Twitter briefly suspended Reynolds’ account after he responded to a tweet from a TV news station in Charlotte that showed protesters on Interstate 277. “Run them down,” he wrote.

Reynolds, the creator of the Instapundit blog, tweets from the handle @Instapundit.

He posted to Twitter shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday that his account had been unblocked after he agreed to delete the offending tweet.

Twitter has unblocked my account on condition of deleting the offending tweet. I've done so, but it's here:: https://t.co/DDkZd2el6Y — Instapundit.com (@instapundit) September 22, 2016

UT College of Law Dean Melanie D. Wilson said in a statement Thursday morning that she and university administrators are investigating the matter, calling Reynold’s post an “irresponsible use of his platform.”

“The university is committed to academic freedom, freedom of speech, and diverse viewpoints, all of which are important for an institution of higher education and the free exchange of ideas,” she wrote. “My colleagues and I in the university’s leadership support peaceful disobedience and all forms of free speech, but we do not support violence or language that encourages violence.”

She called the concerns about the tweet from students and staff, along with those from citizens across the country, “serious and legitimate.”

Chancellor Jimmy Cheek released a statement about an hour later supporting Wilson and her comments.

“Wilson’s statement about the faculty member’s social media post reinforces the university’s commitment to fostering a civil and inclusive learning environment,” he said in a news release.

Bill Sternberg, editorial page editor of USA TODAY, said in a statement Thursday evening that Reynolds had apologized for the tweet.

“USA TODAY expects its columnists to provide thoughtful, reasoned contributions to the national conversation, on all platforms,” Sternberg wrote. “Glenn Reynolds’ “Run them down” tweet, in response to a news report about protesters in Charlotte stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles, was a violation of that standard and can be interpreted as an incitement to violence.”

The News Sentinel, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, also runs Reynold’s column twice a week online and occasionally in print.

In his statement posted on the USA TODAY site at 6:15 p.m., Reynolds wrote that he had been following the protests in Charlotte when he saw a local television interview of a driver whose truck had been stopped and looted by rioters.

“Then I retweeted a report of mobs ‘stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles’ with the comment, ‘Run them down,’” Reynolds wrote.

“Those words can easily be taken to advocate drivers going out of their way to run down protesters. I meant no such thing, and I’m sorry it seemed I did.

“What I meant is that drivers who feel their lives are in danger from a violent mob should not stop their vehicles. I remember Reginald Denny, a truck driver who was beaten nearly to death by a mob during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. My tweet should have said, ‘Keep driving,’ or ‘Don’t stop.’”

Reynolds said he’s always supported peaceful protests, speaking out against police militarization and excessive police violence in his columns, on his website and on social media.

“I understand why people misunderstood my tweet and regret that I was not clearer,” he wrote.

Reynolds had defended his tweet earlier Thursday.

“Yes, that was my post,” he wrote in an email to the News Sentinel. “It was brief, since it was Twitter, but blocking highways is dangerous and I don’t think people should stop for a mob, especially when it’s been violent.”

Reynolds posted his tweet as protests continued in Charlotte on Wednesday night following Tuesday afternoon’s fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott by a black officer. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday night.