Friday, March 29

Former UCLA professor appears to threaten mass shooting


UCLA’s philosophy department canceled in-person classes after a former postdoctoral fellow and professor sent a video referencing a mass shooting and an 800-page manifesto with “specific threats” to some members of the department on Monday, according to the Material provided to The Times.

An email sent to students and provided to The Times on Monday night indicates that Matthew Harris threatened the philosophy department and department staff.

“The material includes a video titled ‘UCLA Philosophy Mass Shooting,’ and an 800-page manifesto with specific threats toward some members of our department,” according to the email.

“In light of this, we will continue to discuss via Zoom until authorities say it is safe. I will keep you informed about this situation. But he would avoid being near Dodd Hall or the philosophy department until further notice.”

Steve Ritea, executive director of communications and media at UCLA, said university police are aware of “a concerning email and post sent today to some members of the UCLA community who are actively involved with federal and law enforcement agencies.” application of the law of other states.

Ritea did not provide further information Monday night.

Harris’s YouTube channel contains more than 300 videos, most of which were uploaded on Monday.

A video titled “UCLA PHILOSOPHY (MASS SHOOTING)” was released on Sunday containing disturbing footage, including footage from the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival and clips from the 2003 film “Zero Day,” which it is loosely based on the Columbine High School Mass Shooting.

The Times obtained a partial copy of Harris’ email to the UCLA philosophy department.

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Harris makes references to race and uses various profanities. He included links to his manifesto and videos of him, including the video threatening a mass shooting.

“War is coming,” he wrote. “go ahead say [expletive] to our golden-headed Caucasian princess.

In reviews left on bruinwalk.com, a site where students can leave anonymous reviews of faculty and other staff members, two students described Harris’s disruptive and erratic behavior as a teacher.

Harris “is extremely unprofessional and has sent her personal pornographic content to a student,” according to one review.

In a separate post, another student described his class as the least favorite at UCLA “ever” and said many students had complained to the department about his behavior.

The student said that Harris changed someone’s grade 43 times after the end of the academic quarter and had changed his grade three times.

A spring 2019 philosophy department newsletter indicated that Harris would join the university as a postdoctoral fellow in philosophy after completing his dissertation at Duke University.

“He works on the philosophy of race, personal identity, and philosophy of mind issues,” the newsletter said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.




www.latimes.com

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