Safety fears at debate

By Paul Asay, The Colorado Springs Gazette, April 24, 2007

An Air Force Academy graduate who has been an outspoken critic of what he’s claimed is religious intolerance at the school is concerned about his safety at a debate today.

Mikey Weinstein, who sued the Air Force in 2005 over alleged proselytizing on campus, will debate conservative attorney Jay Sekulow on the issue of religion and the military at 5 p.m. at the academy’s Arnold Hall.

Weinstein says he’s received four death threats this week -- about average, he says, but enough to warrant concern.

"I’m depending on the academy to take complete care of my son (who attends the AFA) and my party," Weinstein said.

Weinstein wrote an e-mail to Superintendent Lt. Gen. John Regni on Monday asking if he was "personally satisfied with the security" for the event.

According to a copy of the e-mail provided by Weinstein, Regni replied, "I have asked our Air Base Wing for add’l security . . . you’ll see a K-9 Unit, as well."

Johnny Whitaker, academy director of communications, said security has been "beefed up" because of Regni’s request and after the Virginia Tech shootings. Whitaker said security measures will include metal detectors and sweeping the theater with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Whitaker said Arnold Hall can hold about 2,700 people. He doubts the hall will be filled for the debate, but it should still draw some heavy interest.

"Obviously, folks come down pretty hard on both sides of the debate," he said.

The event will pit two prominent figures in the debate over religion’s place in the military. Sekulow heads the American Center for Law and Justice, an organization that often defends conservative Christian interests in court.

Weinstein has founded his own organization, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, that speaks out against evangelism in the military.

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