An expert on anti-fascist groups who teaches at Rutgers University says he is fleeing with his family to Spain after getting death threats amid a campaign by the campus chapter of Turning Point USA and other conservative groups to get him fired.
Mark Bray, an assistant professor of history, said Thursday that he decided to make the move out of concern for his family’s safety after being falsely labeled as a member of antifa, a term used to describe far-left activist groups that oppose fascism.
“I do not have any affiliation with any antifa group and don’t plan to,” said Bray, who wrote the book “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” which documents the philosophy and tactics of militant anti-fascist movements in the U.S. and around the world. He has taught courses on anti-fascism and terrorism at the university since 2019.
Bray spoke to The Associated Press from a hotel near Newark Airport, where he was awaiting a flight out of the U.S. He said he will teach his classes remotely.
Right-wing influencers and others began criticizing Bray on social media after President Donald Trump signed an executive order late last month designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. He said he moved his three classes online after he received a death threat late last month.
Some students involved in the Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA, the political group founded by Charlie Kirk, began circulating an online petition that claimed Bray was an “outspoken, well-known antifa member” and referred to him as “Dr. Antifa” while calling for his dismissal.
Although Bray says he is not a member of any antifa groups, which conservatives argue are responsible for political violence, he has donated half of the proceeds from his book to a legal-defense fund for people arrested while protesting fascism.
He said he learned of the petition calling from his ouster when Fox News contacted him for comment. He said he has since received additional threats and that his home address and personal information about his family were posted on social media.
Patti Zielinski, a Rutgers spokeswoman, declined to comment Thursday on Bray’s situation, saying the university doesn’t publicly discuss personnel or student conduct matters. But she said the university is “committed to providing a secure environment — to learn, teach, work and research — where all members of our community can share their opinions without fear of intimidation or harassment.”
The Turning Point chapter did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Group members have told reporters they believe they’re within their rights to express their concerns about Bray.
Megyn Doyle, a Rutgers student and the treasurer for its Turning Point USA chapter, told Fox News last week that “when you have a teacher that so often promotes political violence … we believe that it puts conservative students at risk for Antifa to come in.”
The group’s online petition now has a statement saying it doesn’t support the harassment or doxing — collecting and publishing a person’s private or identifying information without their consent — Bray or anyone else.
Bray was previously the subject of public criticism over comments he made in news interviews in 2017, when he was a lecturer at Dartmouth College. In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said there were circumstances where violent self-defense is “a legitimate response” to violence by white supremacist and neo-Nazis.”
But Bray told the AP that he “does not wish violence upon anyone.”
His plans to leave the U.S. were first reported by NJ.com.
Bray said that what he is experiencing is part of a broad effort to shut down discourse on college campuses.
“This is an example of the Trump administration trying to conflate protest with terrorism and public scholarship in a university with extremism,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s manufactured outrage to create a boogeyman term to demonize protests.”
Bray plans to live in Spain and teach remotely for the current academic year, then hopes to be back on campus next fall. He had planned to fly to Spain on Wednesday night but said that shortly before takeoff, he was notified by the airline that his family’s reservations had been canceled. He and his wife, who is also a Rutgers professor, have two young children.
