Who is Matthew Harris? Ex-UCLA lecturer, who threatened mass shooting at campus, arrested
A former UCLA Philosophy lecturer, who threatened to carry out a mass shooting at the school campus, was arrested in Colorado on Tuesday morning where he had also made threats against a different campus in an alarmingly violent 800-page manifesto.
Matthew Harris, 31, was taken into custody near the University of Colorado Boulder campus on Tuesday by SWAT teams. On Sunday, he also posted 300 videos on YouTube about shootings and integration before YouTube took them down. He also sent an expletive-ridden email to the UCLA Philosophy department on Monday containing an 800-page manifesto where he also discussed attacking the University of Colorado in Boulder.
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Police in Colorado said that they are still going through his manifesto and it was "alarmingly violent".
One of the hundreds of videos posted online by the former postdoctoral researcher was titled 'UCLA Philosophy (Mass Shooting)'. His manifesto made references to race and used several curse words and misogynistic slurs.
In his manifesto seen by the DailyMail.com, the lecturer would often write in all capital letters and with frequent spelling mistakes, made frequent references to race including repeated use of the N-word, used overtly sexual and misogynistic language, and wrote a number of violent proclamations such as "death to my enemies".
UCLA banned in-person classes and told the authorities about the Boulder references. On Tuesday, after learning of the threat, Boulder Police Department issued a shelter-in-place warning near the college. It also evacuated an elementary school nearby.
(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
UCLA, in a tweet on Tuesday morning, said that they were working with "out-of-state" law enforcement but it's unclear if they even know where he is.
UCPD is actively working with out-of-state & federal agencies on threats sent to some members of our community. We do not have specific information that this individual is in CA. Out of an abundance of caution, all classes will be held remotely Feb 1. We will keep you updated.
— UCLA (@UCLA) February 1, 2022
At around noon local time, Harris was arrested off-campus nearby. The video showed him being led away in handcuffs by SWAT teams.
On Tuesday afternoon, UCLA announced Harris had been arrested in Colorado. "I am greatly relieved to share that law enforcement officers in Colorado have taken into custody the individual who made threats against some members of our UCLA community yesterday. While we will continue with our plans to keep instruction remote today, with this development, we will return to in-person instruction tomorrow," Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael J Beck said.
UCLA posted a tweet to its student concerning the matter and gave them the news of the arrest.
UPDATE: The suspect is in custody in Colorado. Read more here: https://t.co/24xRMmkr3T
— UCLA (@UCLA) February 1, 2022
Boulder Police Chief Maris Harold said at a press conference afterward that detectives were still working through the manifesto but that it was "alarming" in its violence. "This is 800 pages we're going through. The level of violence we saw in the manifesto was so alarming," Harold said.
She added that he tried to buy a gun in November 2021 but thankfully, was not sold one.
In his email to the Philosophy department, as seen by The LA Times, he included a link to his YouTube channel featuring hundreds of disturbing videos most of which were uploaded on Monday.
In the video titled 'UCLA Philosophy (Mass Shooting)', footage from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas and from the movie 'Zero Day' loosely based on the Columbine Columbine High School massacre was shown.
YouTube has taken down Harris' channel but screenshots shared on Twitter showed a number of 'ASMR' (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos, with anti-feminist or racially-charged titles were uploaded by him.
(Twitter/Youtube)
The former lecturer was placed on leave in spring 2021 while he was being investigated over allegations that he sent a pornographic video to a student, according to the Daily Bruin. One colleague told police that Harris was highly erratic in internal emails.
Speaking to ABC News, student Nathan Robbins said, "I've been scared about this professor, this guy, for about a year since my girlfriend told me about the stories - how he treated their class, but also the threats he made after he got put on leave."
On teacher-review websites such as bruinwalk.com, many other students have previously written negatively about Harris.
"This professor is extremely unprofessional and has sent his personal p*rnographic content to a student," one student wrote in March 2021. "Please fire this professor, his actions are not acceptable by any standards," the student added.
Writing in October 2020, another said, "Easily my least favorite class at ucla ever. He is very dry and could not care less about the class."
As of now, Mathew Harris is in custody so UCLA classes will begin in person again on Wednesday and the shelter-in-place order in Colorado has been lifted.