Former UCLA lecturer arrested for making threats

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A former UCLA lecturer is in custody for allegedly making threats toward the university after emails with a link to an 800-page manifesto containing "very alarming" accounts of violence led investigators to Boulder, Colorado, according to authorities.

Upon reviewing the emails, UCLA police tracked the author, identified as Matthew Christopher Harris, 31, to Colorado, Boulder Police Chief Maris Harold announced on Tuesday.

"Upon reviewing parts of the manifesto, we identified thousands of references to violence, stating things such as 'killing, death, murder, shootings, bombs, schoolyard massacre in Boulder,' and phrases like 'burn and attack Boulder' outside of the university," Harold said.

"The level of violence that we saw in the manifesto was obviously so alarming," said Harold. "I can tell you it was very violent, very disturbing."

The Boulder PD SWAT team was activated shortly before 8 a.m. local time and nearby schools, homes, and businesses were evacuated while the suspect's apartment was surrounded.

A crisis-intervention team and negotiators reached Harris by phone and after speaking to him several times very briefly, took him into custody without incident, Harold said. It is unclear whether Harris has an attorney.

Harris was being held on state charges, but Dougherty's office later said the suspect was being transferred to federal custody as of Tuesday evening and is expected to face federal charges because "the alleged threats were made across state lines and victims are located in California."

Harris attempted to buy a gun in early November, but was denied, Harold said.
"Based on a protection order that was issued in the state of California, there was a national database that included a provision that he was not allowed to purchase or possess a firearm. Based on that, we believe at this point -- and again, it's early in the investigation -- that was the basis for the denial when he attempted to purchase the firearm," said Finegan.

UCLA moved classes on Tuesday as word of the threats emerged and will return to in-person classes Wednesday, according to a memo sent to students.

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, Harris sent email threats to students and faculty members. Leaders of the school's philosophy department, where the former lecturer had worked, warned students and faculty about the threats toward the department, according to emails from the department to students and faculty that the Times obtained.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said police had contact with the person last spring and it involved the mental evaluation unit.

This may be a really dumb question, but were the phrases actually being used in a way to indicate that the lecturer was considering doing them personally or encouraging others to do so, or in the context of "the following things are bad and should not be done"?

Without actually seeing the evidence, it's sounding like a set of keyword search hits - but the context is entirely missing. Is this guy the next Unabomber or is this the grown-up version of "Little Timmy wrote a story in class which turned out to be about a video game cutscene but no-one bothered to actually find that out before calling in a SWAT team"?