WASHINGTON — A lecture by the woman who became the public face of the Abu Ghraib scandal was canceled Friday at the Library of Congress after threats led to concerns about staff safety.
Former Army reservist Lynndie England had been scheduled to discuss her biography as part of a veterans forum on Capitol Hill.
The book by author Gary S. Winkler is called “Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs That Shocked the World.”
Members of the Library of Congress Professional Association, the employee group holding the talk, received an e-mail from president Angela Kinney saying the event had been canceled because of staff safety concerns. A spokeswoman for the library said Kinney would not comment further.
The group had received “numerous expressions of protest” about the lecture from its members, the e-mail said.
David Moore, a Vietnam War veteran and German acquisitions specialist at the library who organized the event, said he received e-mails threatening violence and shared them with police and the library’s inspector general.
He blamed an essay decrying the event on the Small Wars Journal blog, which focuses on war politics and strategy, for stirring up much of the opposition.
England, 26, has said she hopes the book will improve her image and help people understand that her role in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2004 was limited.
