Kevin Barrett

The name Kevin Barrett may also refer to Kevin "Buzz" Barrett, a former cast member of ZOOM,

Kevin James Barrett (born February 1959) is a former university lecturer and 9/11 conspiracy theorist.^[1] He is a member of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth^[2] and is a founding member of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance who's aim is to improve "interfaith dialogue, coexistence, and understanding" in light of the events of 9/11.^[3] Barrett became controversial in 2006 when he held a one-semester appointment as an associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.^[4] During the fall semester of 2006, Barrett taught an introductory class called "Islam: Religion and Culture", an undergraduate course in which he had formerly been employed as a teaching assistant since 1996. Before the semester began, he announced his plans to spend one or two weeks of the 16-week class teaching about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and the War on Terrorism. Controversy erupted when it became known Barrett was planning to incorporate conspiracy theories into his lectures.^[5] An internal university probe of his performance as a teaching assistant determined that "although Mr. Barrett presented a variety of viewpoints, he had not discussed his personal opinions in the classroom" and that the class followed the syllabus that had been approved by the department. That syllabus included a section devoted to the war on terror.^[6] Since leaving the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Barrett has remained in Madison as an increasingly vocal activist for the 9/11 Truth Movement. On Monday, October 22, Barrett disrupted a talk by conservative pundit David Horowitz for several minutes, causing a major disturbance. ^[7]

Early life

Barrett was born in 1959 to Peter Barrett, an Olympic athlete (sailing: silver medal in Finns in 1964, gold medal in Stars in 1968), one of the founders of North Sails (then and now a world leader in sail-making technology) and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor in business and accounting.^[8] In the early 1990s, Kevin Barrett received master's degrees in both English literature and French from San Francisco State University and married a Moroccan-born Muslim woman.^[9] He converted to Islam in 1992.^[10] Barrett returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995. The United States State Department gave him a Fulbright Scholarship in 1999 to study a year in Morocco. He received a Ph.D. in African languages and literature with a minor in folklore from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004, focusing his dissertation on the topic of Moroccan legend.^{[9][4] [11]} Barrett has taught English, French, Arabic, American Civilization, Humanities, African Literature, Folklore, and Islam at colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay area, Paris, and Madison, Wisconsin.^[10]

Controversy

Barrett first drew attention to his views by writing letters to the editor of the Madison Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal, in which he claimed that Muslims had nothing to do with the attacks: "As a Ph.D. Islamologist and Arabist I really hate to say this, but I'll say it anyway: 9/11 had nothing to do with Islam. The war on terror is as phony as the latest Osama bin Laden tape."^[12] Barrett has also claimed the 2005 London bombing[1], and the 2004 Madrid bombing, were committed by U.S. or western military intelligence and not Islamic terrorists. Following a June 28, 2006 talk radio segment on WTMJ, Barrett's views came to the attention of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, U.S. Representative Mark Green, and State Representative Stephen L. Nass. After conducting a 10-day review of Barrett's past teaching and plans for the class, UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell determined that Barrett was fit to teach. Barrett told the Provost that his course will spend one week examining current issues, such as viewpoints on the war on terror which will be based on the discussion on readings representing a variety of viewpoints.^[4] On July 11, 2006, Barrett appeared on the television show "The O'Reilly Factor", and the show's host, Bill O'Reilly, said about Barrett, "This guy would have been gone at Boston University, my alma mater, in a heartbeat. The Chancellor there, John Silber, would have--would have--this guy'd be in the Charles River floating down, you know, toward the harbor." In response, Barrett filed a complaint with the FCC.^[13] Barrett has written a largely autobiographical book covering the controversy, entitled "Truth Jihad: My Epic Struggle against the 9/11 Big Lie," published by Progressive Press in early 2007. He also edited "9/11 and American Empire" (vol. 2) from Interlink Books, published in Dec. 2006. Barrett taught the Fall 2006 class he'd been hired for, but took a sabbatical the following term. In May 2007, he announced that he had applied to teach during the Fall 2007 semester. In Fall 2006 Kevin Barrett began hosting a talk show twice a week on the GCN called "The Dynamic Duo," and another talk show, hosted weekly on RBN, titled "Truth Jihad Radio." The topic of both shows is mainly conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11. Barrett's controversial views on Jews and Zionism came under focus in late 2006 when statements from an email exchange were documented in which he stated, "As a rational person who is not a specialist in the subject of WWII, but who has studied the history of Zionist Big Lies vis-a-vis Palestine, I cannot possibly dismiss the arguments of people like Green, Irving, and even Zundel."^[14][15] Some activists have also commented on a pattern of public statements by Barrett suggestive of violence toward reporters and journalists, such as, "journalists who act as propagandists for war crimes may one day find themselves on the scaffold," and "anybody who has drawn a paycheck from the major mainstream journalistic outlets in the past should be up on the scaffold for the crimes of high treason and crimes against humanity."^[16]

References

External links

• Kevin Barrett Podcast Interview with Fred Flannigan from WKRS 1220 AM WKRS.com
• The Kevin Barrett case at UW-Madison
• Barrett's website: The Muslim-Christian-Jewish alliance for 9/11 Truth
• Wisconsin State Journal article on the Nass/Barrett Controversy
• Channel 3000: "Official: UW-Madison Will Allow Controversial Instructor To Teach"
• Kevin Barrett & James Fetzer: 9/11 Moonbats in Milwaukee
• Muslim Jewish Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth: Holocaust denial, no planes and a State Department grant
• Log of Barrett's Radio and Road Appearances
• Truth Jihad Radio archives, Barrett's weekly radio show on Rebublic Broadcasting Network
• The Dynamic Duo, Barrett's radio show on The Genesis Communications Network, cohosted with fellow 9/11 activist Jim Fetzer
• Campus Watch What Makes Kevin Barrett Tick?
• Kevin Barrett 911 whistleblower on hannity and colmes at YouTube July 6, 2006