Sloan evidently isn't even a current University of Oklahoma professor, so he can't have been tapped as an official spokesman for the University. He does not appear to be a local Muslim leader (they found someone else to play that role), so it couldn't be that angle. Was it a random pick? Doubtful. So it has the strong appearance that he was chosen in order to give the article the political spin that was desired, either by the "reporter" or by an editor...
But wait, there's more. There is a Dr. Stephen Sloan who is or was professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma, who appears to have a strong background in simulating terrorist incidents in order to help public and private organizations to, I don't know, maybe come up with strategies for dealing with terrorist incidents? Or maybe counseling clients in how to downplay the possibility of terrorism when an act such as this one occurs? While I can't be certain that this is the same guy, it is plausible: See this bio for more.
Good catch. Almost certainly the same person. Rereading the article closely, I think that a lot of the statements that are the most ludicrous are not the Professor's, but the reporter's spin on what the Professor has said. Maybe a little bit of putting words in his mouth, even quoting him out of context?
"Stephen Sloan, a former University of Oklahoma professor"
"terrorist expert".
You are correct. It wouldn't be a stretch to believe the man on the bio and the one in the article are one in the same. My question; what kind of "terrorist expert" would so quickly downplay the possibility, post 9/11, of a muslim connection, especially in light of the troubing "coincidences"?
I wonder too...left-wing spokesman or dhimmi of the day.
I'm not sure which, but I'm sure someone on this blog will come up with info...
"The terrorism expert said the size of the explosion indicates that it was designed to hit more than Hinrichs. He said it seems more than coincidence that this occurred on the Saturday night of a football game."
The above statement was in the article. The author of the article isn't such a hot writer, or he would have linked "terrorism expert" to Sloan's actual name. It appears that who you are talking about is one and the same with the prof being quoted. He is no long at OU - too lucrative to pass up all these gigs downplaying Muslim terrorism and exaggerating the threat from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.