A California professor has been reprimanded after saying that police officers 'need to be killed' in a 2016 interview.

University of California, Davis literature professor and author, Joshua Clover, was exposed by comparative literature student Nick Irvin in an opinion piece published in The California Aggie.

The expose comes more than a month after Davis police officer, Natalie Corona, was shot and killed while on duty.

'I first heard about a UC Davis professor who thinks cops should be killed late in Fall Quarter. There were murmurings in the newsroom about his in-class discussions, and rumors of how the professor had given an interview that advocated for violence against law enforcement,' Irvin wrote.

University of California, Davis literature professor and author, Joshua Clover (pictured), has been reprimanded after saying that police officers 'need to be killed' in a 2016 interview.

Clover, was exposed by comparative literature student Nick Irvin in an opinion piece published in The California Aggie. Irvin said he did some digging and found tweets from Clover's Twitter (pictured)

Another tweeted from 2014 read: 'I mean, it’s easier to shoot cops when their backs are turned, no?'

Courtesy of KTXL

He said it was Corona's death that prompted him to dig further to see whether or not the murmurings were true.

Irvin said he browsed Twitter and found old tweets from Clover.

'I am thankful that every living cop will one day be dead, some by their own hand, some by others, too many of old age #letsnotmakemore,' Clover reportedly tweeted on November 27, 2014.

Another tweeted from 2014 read: 'I mean, it’s easier to shoot cops when their backs are turned, no?'

In an interview published in 2016, when asked what's wrong with society today, Clover said: 'People think that cops need to be reformed. They need to be killed.'

Irvin said he wanted to make the public aware of 'what this university is allowing'.

Irvin said it was the death of Davis officer Natalie Corona (left and right) that prompted him to look into rumors that Clover believed police officers should be killed

The university (pictured) released a statement that said they 'find it unconscionable that anyone would condone much less appear to advocate murder'. The university did not specify what action, if any, they were taking against Clover

The university released a statement to Fox 40, that said they 'find it unconscionable that anyone would condone much less appear to advocate murder'.

'We support law enforcement, and the UC Davis Police Department and Chief Joe Farrow have been and remain critical partners to our community,' the statement continued.

Clover responded to the outrage, in a statement to the station: 'On the day that police have as much to fear from literature professors as black kids do from police, I will definitely have a statement. Until then I have nothing further to add.'

The university did not specify what action, if any, they were taking against Clover.