An alumnus of Harvard Law School (HLS) claims he was assaulted by a security officer at a reception for President Neil L. Rudenstine held Sunday night at Fannie Mae corporate headquarters in Washington D.C.

Edward Eitches, a 1974 graduate of HLS, says a security officer mistook him for a Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) protester because he had two pieces of PSLM literature in his hand.

Eitches alleges that a security guard grappled with him, maneuvered him into a room away from the rest of the crowd, and proceeded to hit him with a walkie-talkie, cutting his thumb, jamming his finger and spraining his hand.

The guard is an employee of Wackenhut Corporation, a firm subcontracted by Fannie Mae, and the firm has placed him on leave and is conducting an investigation.

Patrick F. Cannann, director of corporate relations for Wackenhut, said the company had no comment, beyond the fact that it was investigating the incident.

Thomas R. Nides, Senior Vice President for Corporate Resources, said Fannie Mae is also investigating the incident.

“We are looking into it aggressively,” he said.

“I feel terrible that anything happened,” he added.