Threats prompt call for congressional help

Deirdre Newman

OCC CAMPUS -- A professor who has been accused of harassing some of

his students is seeking federal help with an investigation into death

threats he says he’s received.

Professor Kenneth Hearlson called on Costa Mesa Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

on Wednesday to put pressure on Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft’s Los Angeles

office to jump-start an investigation he says has not been given enough

attention from federal law enforcement agencies.

Hearlson was put on administrative leave after the incident involving

Muslim students in his class Sept. 18. An investigation into the

incident, which followed a class discussion of the Sept. 11 terrorist

attacks, is underway, and a report is expected any day.

After that controversial class, Hearlson said he received death

threats from Muslim students. He also said he received similar threats in

the spring semester.

Hearlson said he wants the threats investigated as civil rights and

criminal violations and has reported them to a variety of law enforcement

agencies. He also says he has not received any cooperation from college

officials.

“My family has been in fear here in Costa Mesa because of these

threats, and nobody is taking it seriously,” Hearlson said.

Bob Dees, OCC’s vice president of instruction, did not return repeated

phone calls for comment.

Hearlson said he turned both threats over to the Costa Mesa Police

Department in September, adding that he is satisfied with its handling of

the case. He also contacted the FBI and the Justice Department. But

representatives from both agencies told him the investigation was not in

their realm.

So Hearlson asked Rohrabacher to put some pressure on the Los Angeles

office of the federal attorney general to look into the alleged threats.

Kathleen Hollingsworth, Rohrabacher’s district director, said once

Hearlson’s information has been reviewed, it will be determined if the

congressman can assist him in his efforts.Hearlson, a tenured professor,

has been teaching at OCC for the past 18 years, spicing his lectures with

provocative questions designed to draw his students into heated debate.

The first threat that Hearlson alleges happened took place last spring

after a lecture in which Hearlson put up a picture of the 17 men and

women in the Navy who were killed on the USS Cole by terrorists

affiliated with Osama bin Laden.

The Muslim students “stood up and denounced me and told me they

deserved to kill more Americans,” Hearlson said. “They were so angry and

would not let anybody else speak. I finally just had to get them out of

the classroom.”

One of his former students said she was afraid to go back to class

after that incident.

“I remember the Muslim students stood up and professed their love for

Bin Laden. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. And I was sick when you

had to come back with security guards,” Evan McVeigh said in a letter to

Hearlson.

Following that incident and another that allegedly took place Sept.

25, Hearlson claims he was told others overheard the reported threats

made by the Muslim students, though at least one of the threats he did

not hear himself.

-- Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .