Antifa Expert Runs Into Trouble Trying to Leave the Country

A Rutgers historian specializing in antifa has found himself at the center of a national firestorm, prompting an attempted last-minute escape to Spain with his family. Mark Bray, author of a 2017 book on the anti-fascism movement, says he became a prime target for threats and online harassment after President Trump's renewed focus on labeling antifa a domestic terrorist group, and particularly in the wake of the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

Bray, who had taught courses about the leftwing movement in relative quiet until recently, found his home address circulated online and received death threats, including some threatening violence in front of his students. With his wife, also a Rutgers professor, and their young children, Bray sought to leave the country and continue teaching remotely, but the family's Wednesday flight reservation was somehow abruptly canceled at the gate, the New York Times reports. The airline rebooked them for the following day.

The tension began after a petition from Rutgers' Turning Point USA chapter accused Bray of being a member of antifa and demanded his firing. Right-wing influencers amplified the accusations, and Fox News coverage brought more attention. Bray denies ever being part of an antifa group, insisting his role is purely academic. The university has offered classroom security and allowed both Bray and his wife to teach remotely, but the family felt the threats warranted leaving the country. Rutgers reiterated its commitment to safety and academic freedom but did not comment on specifics.

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"Since my family and I do not feel safe in our home at the moment, we are moving for the year to Europe," Bray said in an email to students Sunday, just a month into the semester, the Washington Post reports. In an interview, he said he knows other academics who have left the country for similar reasons, and suggested the right is attempting to "make it so that professors who conduct research on protest movements don't feel safe sharing their research or teaching about topics that the administration doesn't like."