BYU takes on a 9/11 conspiracy professor

By Will Sullivan

It was Steven Jones's résumé as much as his September 11 research that rapidly turned the Brigham Young University physics professor into one of the most prominent 9/11 conspiracy theorists. But with the university's decision last week to place him on paid leave and review his work, Jones may trade academic standing for another vaunted status, the movement's first martyr.

Jones, the cofounder of the group Scholars for 9/11 Truth, is not the first academic to have taken heat for promoting September 11 conspiracy theories.

But while other universities have resisted outside calls to remove teachers from the faculty, saying such decisions would violate academic freedom, BYU says it has decided that Jones's "increasingly speculative and accusatory" statements merited concern and has given his classes this semester to other professors.

Jones brought both personal and professional credibility to 9/11 Truth, which sorely needed both. His conservative Mormon background made him an unlikely promoter of conspiracy theories. Even more important in a movement whose academics are often philosophy or theology professors, Jones has taught physics at BYU since 1985 and has "continuing status," roughly equivalent to tenure.

In his paper "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse?" Jones suggests the towers were felled by a controlled demolition rather than by damage caused by the airliners. His claims were tackled head-on in a fact sheet last month from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which created a 43-volume report about the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

In the paper, Jones does not make specific accusations about who brought about the towers' collapse and avoids the casual finger-pointing that characterizes much of the movement. But when pressed, he cautiously blames the supposed demolition on Bush administration officials eager to sow war in the Middle East.

Besides worries about his accusations, Carri Jenkins, a spokesman for the university, said BYU was also concerned that Jones's work on September 11 had not been published in credible peer-reviewed journals. Jones edits the Journal of 9/11 Studies,