Universities need better support systems in place to help academics studying politicised topics as online vitriol becomes the “new normal” in Trump’s America, according to a professor who had to flee the country after receiving death threats.

In the weeks after the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk in September, Rutgers University historian Mark Bray, who studies anti-fascism, was labelled a “domestic terrorist professor” by Jack Posobiec, a prominent right-wing activist with ties to the president, and criticised on Fox News.

After students who belong to Kirk’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) organisation started a petition, Bray’s home address was posted on X and he received death threats, forcing him to flee to Spain with his family, where has been living and working remotely since.

He told 51�Թ� that the incident was “100 per cent connected” to the killing of Kirk on Utah Valley University campus, president Trump’s executive order designating anti-fascist group “Antifa” as domestic terrorists, and far-right influencer activity online.

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“The timing...strongly suggests a domino effect emanating from the top, so to me, that is really how it should be understood. It is to me a micro example of the kind of manufactured outrage that the Trump administration is trying to generate.”

Bray said his original flight reservation out of the country was cancelled without explanation as he prepared to board – which left him feeling like he was being watched.

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“My two small children were starting to cry and…I was getting really very concerned and desperate.”

Bray’s book, Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, which was published in the aftermath of the Charlottesville attack in 2017, did provoke controversy and some death threats, connected to comments he made about self-defence being justified when confronted with neo-Nazi violence.

But Bray, who was previously an Occupy Wall Street organiser, had been living peacefully as a “boring professor dad” in suburban New Jersey until the furore re-erupted.

The Rutgers TPUSA branch denounced the threats but Bray said this was “hollow” given that he has featured on a “professor watchlist” started by Kirk, which regularly results in academics receiving harassment and has knock-on effects on publications.

“We live in a political climate where research can become highly politicised…so I’m sure it’s giving some people second thoughts about what to publish, what to write, what appearances to do, and so forth.”

The professor of history said students have also co-operated with Fox News on more stories about other Rutgers professors – part of a concerted effort to go after universities and professors which reflects the success of “populist anti-intellectualism”.

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“They are essentially arguing that there is more or less a cabal of left-wing, anti-American professors who are promoting ideas that are radicalising young people in the war on terror model of Al Qaeda or ISIS…that’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Despite facing pressure from the student body, Rutgers president William Tate has yet to specifically support Bray in public but has defended the importance of freedom of expression.

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Bray said he had received a good amount of support from Rutgers but it was clearly “ad hoc” and he would like to see proper plans in place in future.

“There should be a set of policies for how to handle these situations. There should be procedures because this is a potentially a new normal.

“If things aren’t changed to prevent these kinds of things from happening or at least mitigate their effects, it threatens the entire institution.”

Although he had experience of working remotely during the pandemic, Bray has had to readjust to the difficulties of teaching online. He has missed meetings and university events, been unable to catch up with colleagues and has found it harder to do the research for his next book – which has nothing to do with anti-fascism.

Bray said his students have been “overwhelmingly supportive”, as have academics in the US, Spain and around the world.

“In some ways, the degree to which academics are rallying to oppose this kind of thing has been heartening and has given me new opportunities and new connections.”

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Rutgers was approached for comment.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com