{"id":486348,"date":"2025-10-09T18:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T18:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/486348\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T18:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T18:47:13","slug":"us-anti-fascism-expert-blocked-from-flying-to-spain-at-airport-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/486348\/","title":{"rendered":"US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport | US news"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Rutgers University professor who taught a course on anti-fascism<\/a> was blocked from leaving the US for Spain on Wednesday night, according to media reports<\/a>, hours after Donald Trump hosted a White House roundtable highlighting the impact of antifa \u2013 or \u201canti-fascist\u201d \u2013 far-left activists.<\/p>\n

Mark Bray, an historian who published the 2017 book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, and has taught courses on anti-fascism at the New Jersey<\/a> university, was attempting to board a plane at Newark airport bound for Europe when he was informed at the boarding gate that the reservations for him and his family had been cancelled.<\/p>\n

The professor, nicknamed \u201cDr Antifa\u201d by a group of students, had said he was moving to Europe after receiving death threats. Turning Point USA activists have claimed he is a \u201cfinancier\u201d for the leftwing movement.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Someone\u2019 cancelled my family\u2019s flight out of the country at the last second,\u201d Bray posted on Bluesky social media<\/a>. \u201cWe got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation \u2018disappeared.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A petition calling for his removal from the university had been launched in the weeks following the assassination of the Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and Bray\u2019s home address was revealed on social media.<\/p>\n

One threat included a vow to kill him in front of his students, according to the Washington Post<\/a>. The threats led to Bray\u2019s decision to relocate to Spain with his wife and two children and to continue to teach his students remotely.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince my family and I do not feel safe in our home at the moment, we are moving for the year to Europe,\u201d Bray said in an email to students on Sunday. \u201cTruly I am so bummed about not being able to spend time with you all in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bray told the New York Times <\/a>earlier on Wednesday that \u201cmy role in this is as a professor. I\u2019ve never been part of an antifa group, and I\u2019m not currently.\u201d But he added that \u201cthere\u2019s an effort underway to paint me as someone who is doing the things that I\u2019ve researched, but that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bray told the outlet that the family were rebooked for Thursday evening but were in the dark about why the earlier booking had been cancelled. \u201cI may sound conspiratorial, but I don\u2019t think it is a coincidence,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a hotel and we\u2019re just going to try again.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Kirk\u2019s assassination, the rightwing influencer Jack Posobiec called Bray a \u201cdomestic terrorist professor\u201d on X. The Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA then circulated a petition<\/a> that accused the professor of being an \u201coutspoken, well-known antifa member\u201d and called for his dismissal.<\/p>\n

The Rutgers chapter<\/a> of Turning Point USA has said it does not support harassment or doxing, but Bray is on a list of academics the group identifies as advancing left-leaning classroom propaganda.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to become a socialist? If so, make sure to pay this professor a visit!!!! All jokes aside help us report this professor who has ties to Antifa which now is designated as a domestic terrorist organization,\u201d the Rutgers chapter posted on Instagram several days ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a statement,<\/a> Rutgers said it did not comment on personnel or student conduct matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cRutgers University is committed to providing a secure environment \u2013 to learn, teach, work and research \u2013 where all members of our community can share their opinions without fear of intimidation or harassment,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

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