The problem lies with the end of the piece you are cutting jams between the blade and the fence, this normally will cause "kickback" and could definately ruin your day! Not to mention you may be singing soprano for awhile!
Always move/remove your ripfence when crosscutting and use only your mitre gauge that was providfed with your saw.

The problem is you should not use the miter gauge AND the fence at the same time. Wood can jam and be kicked by the blade. I usually don't remove the fence. Just move far enough away from the blade that wood won't jam when using the miter guage.

Ahhh. All makes sense now. Thank you for the replies.

-Jonathan