Matthew Christopher Harris, 31, posted the videos and 800-page manifesto making “specific threats” to people in the university’s philosophy department, resulting in the school’s decision to cancel in-person classes on Tuesday, authorities said.
Authorities arrested Harris without incident after a standoff at his Boulder, Colorado home.
The Boulder Police Department began an investigation soon after receiving the threatening emails and an 800-page manifesto from UCLA. The school’s police department tracked Harris to Boulder and reached out to law enforcement there.
“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,” said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold at a news conference.
Authorities said he attempted to buy a handgun in November but his purchase was denied. Officials believe the transaction did not go through because of a California-based protection order that said he could not purchase or possess a firearm.
Police evacuated nearby schools, residents, and businesses, and issued a shelter-in-place to 65 homes near the apartment complex where Harris was holed up, officials said. A crisis intervention team assisted with Harris’ surrender.
UCLA’s administrative vice chancellor Michael J. Beck released a statement that read, in part:
“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.”
Harris was placed on leave from UCLA last year and a female University of California, Irvine philosophy professor was granted a restraining order against him after he sent emails to his mother threatening to “hunt” the professor and “put bullets in her skull.” Harris’ mother alerted the woman.
Harris came to UCLA after completing his dissertation, “Continents in Cognition,” at Duke University in 2019. Duke is where he first met the woman who was the subject of the restraining order. They had “minimal contact” but he reached out to her to discuss career advice in September 2020 because he had recently moved to Los Angeles, according to the court documents.
Harris allegedly “began an aggressive campaign” of text messages and emails to the woman, leading her to fear for her safety. She told him to stop contacting her in March 2021.
Separately, UCLA that month placed him on investigatory leave for “predatory behavior” when the school had found he sent pornographic and violent content to students, court documents state.
In April, the professor was contacted by Harris’ mother, who told her that four months earlier her son had sent her emails saying he wanted to move closer to the Irvine campus where the professor worked so he could kill her, court documents show. UC Irvine is about 50 miles south of UCLA.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing and someone got hurt,” Harris’ mother wrote to the woman. His mother had not seen her son in five years and believed he was in need of psychiatric help, court document show.
The University of California regents sought a workplace violence restraining order last May, the day after UCLA officials learned Harris had been released from a mental health facility and was back in Los Angeles. A temporary restraining order was granted immediately, and a longer protective order – in place until 2024 – was approved less than a month later.
The court documents say that UCLA’s police department and its Behavioral Intervention Team were aware of the threats against the professor and reached out to the FBI.
Harris was being held in Colorado on state charges and federal charges may be pursued. It wasn’t immediately known if Harris had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.
UCLA announced late Monday that all classes for Tuesday were going to be 100% remote after threats were made toward members of the university’s philosophy department.
Students say Harris sent an email to his former philosophy department threatening to hurt faculty and staff.
Harris posted hundreds of videos online Monday, including one showing video of the mass shooting in Las Vegas and the massacre at Columbine High School.
Students who had Harris as a professor say the trouble began last year and exploded Monday as news of his latest threats spread on social media.
In-person classes at UCLA are scheduled to resume Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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