Professor hospitalized after beating

By By Frank Tankard (Contact)

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

KU professor Paul Mirecki was hospitalized Monday morning after two men beat him on the side of the road in rural Douglas County, he said.

Mirecki said the two men beat him for about one minute with a metal object, striking him repeatedly on the head, shoulders and back.

Mirecki, chairman of the department of religious studies, drew criticism from University officials and state legislators last week after e-mails he had sent to a list server became public.

In the messages, he made remarks about Christian fundamentalists that some considered offensive, including the message that the intelligent design class he planned to teach in the spring would serve as “a nice slap in their big fat face.” He apologized and canceled the class last week.

He said the assailants made reference to the intelligent design controversy during the attack.

“I had no idea who they were, but they certainly knew who I was,” he said.

Mirecki said he was taking a long, pre-dawn drive in the country to clear his mind in wake of the recent controversy and was planning to end his drive by stopping at a restaurant for breakfast.

He said two men were tailgating him in a pickup truck, and he pulled over to let them pass. He said he got out of his vehicle, then they did the same and beat him.

Mirecki said he spent between three and four hours at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he received X-Rays and a CT scan. He said he suffered a broken tooth but didn’t specify other injuries he may have sustained.

Lt. Kari Wempe of the Douglas County Sheriff’s office said the incident occurred south of Lawrence at about 6:40 a.m.

Wempe described the suspects as two white men between 30 and 40 years of age who left the scene in a large pickup truck. The sheriff’s office reported that one of the men wore a red visor-style ball cap and wool gloves and that both men wore jeans.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 843-TIPS or the sheriff’s office at 841-0007.

Lynn Bretz, director of the Office of University Relations, said that she was “alarmed and concerned” by the incident and that the University had offered Mirecki assistance.

Sen. Kay O’Connor (R-Olathe), who has strongly criticized Mirecki for his e-mails, said whoever beat him should be “prosecuted to the fullest.”

“If they try to cover themselves under the mantle of being Christian or being Christian people, sorry Charlie,” she said. “They’re just thugs.”

— Staff writer Steve Lynn contributed to this story. Edited by Erick R. Schmidt

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