‘Dr. Antifa’ Professor Blocked From Flying After Trump Roundtable
Mark Bray appeared on major national and international media outlets, including Meet the Press, BBC World News, CNN International, PBS, and many others to discuss his expertise on the history of anti-fascism. / NBC NewsWire / William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesMore
“My role in this is as a professor,” Bray told The New York Times in an interview shortly before his flight to Spain. “I’ve never been part of an antifa group, and I’m not currently. There’s an effort underway to paint me as someone who is doing the things that I’ve researched, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” the professor added.
Bray decided to flee the country ahead of death threats that he received following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which led to President Donald Trump designating Antifa—a broad and decentralized political movement that opposes fascism— as a domestic terrorist organization.
On the same day Bray was set to fly to Spain with his wife and two children, Trump hosted a White House roundtable focused on Antifa.
Mark Bray, a historian of modern Spain and the world, taught in Rutgers University’s history department. / Anadolu / Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
“‘Someone’ cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second,” Bray posted on Bluesky, adding, “We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared.’”
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Since Sept. 26, Bray had received three death threats, including one threatening to kill him in front of his students, The Washington Post reported. His address had also been leaked on social media.
Students have posted screenshots on Reddit of Bray’s emails canceling or moving classes online, with many expressing disappointment that this was happening to their professor.
“Hope he enjoys his time in Europe, I was enjoying the class discussions,” one Reddit user said, posting an email from Bray that read: “Since my family and I do not feel safe in our home at the moment, we are moving for the year to Europe. Truly I am so bummed about not being able to spend time with you all in the classroom.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Rutgers University said that it “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."
When asked about the threats to Bray, the White House claimed to The Times that “examples of Democrat violence are plentiful.”
After Bray announced his decision to leave the country, students launched another petition calling for the disbanding of Rutgers’ Turning Point USA chapter. As of Thursday, that petition had about 2,000 more signatures than the one calling for Bray’s firing.
On Wednesday, President Trump held a roundtable discussion on Antifa. / Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
“I think that all death threats and doxxing are unjustified and not how political disputes should be resolved in civilized society,” said Ava Kwan, a Turning Point USA chapter member, in an email to The Times on Wednesday. She added, “I think Dr. Antifa, who believes in violence as a political tool, should be fired, of course. Taxpayer money should not fund the salaries of terrorists.”
Bray and his family have rebooked their flight for Thursday, but hope to return to the U.S. and the classroom in the future. For now, his classes will be pre-recorded.
Wiktoria Gucia
Thu, October 9, 2025
William B. Plowman/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
A professor dubbed “Dr. Antifa” tried to flee the country amid threats to his life but was stopped at the gate and told his reservation had been canceled.
Mark Bray, a historian of modern Spain and the world, taught in Rutgers University’s history department in New Jersey until a Turning Point USA chapter petitioned for his firing.
“We believe in free speech and the First Amendment. However, this does not mean that one is free from the consequences of their actions,” the petition stated, calling Bray “Dr. Antifa” for the content of his academic work.
In 2017, Bray published Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, based on interviews with anti-fascists, which explores the movement’s philosophy and history. At Rutgers, he taught a course on the history of antifascism.
Thu, October 9, 2025
William B. Plowman/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
A professor dubbed “Dr. Antifa” tried to flee the country amid threats to his life but was stopped at the gate and told his reservation had been canceled.
Mark Bray, a historian of modern Spain and the world, taught in Rutgers University’s history department in New Jersey until a Turning Point USA chapter petitioned for his firing.
“We believe in free speech and the First Amendment. However, this does not mean that one is free from the consequences of their actions,” the petition stated, calling Bray “Dr. Antifa” for the content of his academic work.
In 2017, Bray published Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, based on interviews with anti-fascists, which explores the movement’s philosophy and history. At Rutgers, he taught a course on the history of antifascism.
Mark Bray appeared on major national and international media outlets, including Meet the Press, BBC World News, CNN International, PBS, and many others to discuss his expertise on the history of anti-fascism. / NBC NewsWire / William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesMore
“My role in this is as a professor,” Bray told The New York Times in an interview shortly before his flight to Spain. “I’ve never been part of an antifa group, and I’m not currently. There’s an effort underway to paint me as someone who is doing the things that I’ve researched, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” the professor added.
Bray decided to flee the country ahead of death threats that he received following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which led to President Donald Trump designating Antifa—a broad and decentralized political movement that opposes fascism— as a domestic terrorist organization.
On the same day Bray was set to fly to Spain with his wife and two children, Trump hosted a White House roundtable focused on Antifa.
Mark Bray, a historian of modern Spain and the world, taught in Rutgers University’s history department. / Anadolu / Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
“‘Someone’ cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second,” Bray posted on Bluesky, adding, “We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared.’”
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Since Sept. 26, Bray had received three death threats, including one threatening to kill him in front of his students, The Washington Post reported. His address had also been leaked on social media.
Students have posted screenshots on Reddit of Bray’s emails canceling or moving classes online, with many expressing disappointment that this was happening to their professor.
“Hope he enjoys his time in Europe, I was enjoying the class discussions,” one Reddit user said, posting an email from Bray that read: “Since my family and I do not feel safe in our home at the moment, we are moving for the year to Europe. Truly I am so bummed about not being able to spend time with you all in the classroom.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Rutgers University said that it “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."
When asked about the threats to Bray, the White House claimed to The Times that “examples of Democrat violence are plentiful.”
After Bray announced his decision to leave the country, students launched another petition calling for the disbanding of Rutgers’ Turning Point USA chapter. As of Thursday, that petition had about 2,000 more signatures than the one calling for Bray’s firing.
On Wednesday, President Trump held a roundtable discussion on Antifa. / Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
“I think that all death threats and doxxing are unjustified and not how political disputes should be resolved in civilized society,” said Ava Kwan, a Turning Point USA chapter member, in an email to The Times on Wednesday. She added, “I think Dr. Antifa, who believes in violence as a political tool, should be fired, of course. Taxpayer money should not fund the salaries of terrorists.”
Bray and his family have rebooked their flight for Thursday, but hope to return to the U.S. and the classroom in the future. For now, his classes will be pre-recorded.
Travis Gettys
October 8, 2025
ALTERNET
FILE PHOTO: Founder and president of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo/File Photo
A history professor is abruptly leaving the U.S. after a conservative group founded by the late Charlie Kirk singled him out for persecution, according to a report on Wednesday.
Mark Bray, who has taught about antifascist movements at Rutgers University since 2019, notified students Sunday that his courses would immediately move online as he and his family prepared to flee the country for their safety, reported the Washington Post.
“Since my family and I do not feel safe in our home at the moment, we are moving for the year to Europe,” Bray told students by email. “Truly I am so bummed about not being able to spend time with you all in the classroom.”
Far-right social media accounts called attention to Bray in late September, after news outlets quoted his remarks about President Donald Trump’s executive order designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization," and the Washington Post confirmed three death threats sent to the professor since Sept. 26.
One online activist called him a “domestic terrorist professor," while another shared his home address in New Jersey, and the Rutgers chapter of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, which was founded by the late Kirk, launched a petition Thursday demanding Bray's firing, referring to Trump's executive order and smearing the educator as a threat to their safety.
Bray decided to move his family to Spain for the rest of the year, and he's optimistic they'll be able to return one day.
“I’m hopeful about returning, and I’m hopeful — and I say this as a history professor — that someday we will look back on this as a cautionary tale about authoritarianism,” Bray said.
The university told the Post that administrators were aware of the Turning Point USA petition and Bray's message to students.
“We are gathering more information about this evolving situation,” the university said in a statement.
Bray, the author of four books on anarchism and antifa, also faced widespread criticism when he told NBC News’s “Meet the Press” in 2017, while a lecturer at Dartmouth University, that violence was sometimes justified, after the deadly “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
Dartmouth's president at the time condemned Bray in a statement and accused him “supporting violent protest," but more than 100 of the university's faculty members rallied around him.
Turning Point USA did not respond to requests for comment on the report, but the Trump administration justified the threats he received by blaming Kirk's assassination, which remains under investigation, on "Democrat violence," but Bray characterized the threats chasing him to Europe as part of the president's crackdown on academic freedom.
“There’s been a concerted attack on universities, and I feel like this is a facet of that," Bray said, "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.”
FILE PHOTO: Founder and president of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo/File Photo
A history professor is abruptly leaving the U.S. after a conservative group founded by the late Charlie Kirk singled him out for persecution, according to a report on Wednesday.
Mark Bray, who has taught about antifascist movements at Rutgers University since 2019, notified students Sunday that his courses would immediately move online as he and his family prepared to flee the country for their safety, reported the Washington Post.
“Since my family and I do not feel safe in our home at the moment, we are moving for the year to Europe,” Bray told students by email. “Truly I am so bummed about not being able to spend time with you all in the classroom.”
Far-right social media accounts called attention to Bray in late September, after news outlets quoted his remarks about President Donald Trump’s executive order designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization," and the Washington Post confirmed three death threats sent to the professor since Sept. 26.
One online activist called him a “domestic terrorist professor," while another shared his home address in New Jersey, and the Rutgers chapter of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, which was founded by the late Kirk, launched a petition Thursday demanding Bray's firing, referring to Trump's executive order and smearing the educator as a threat to their safety.
Bray decided to move his family to Spain for the rest of the year, and he's optimistic they'll be able to return one day.
“I’m hopeful about returning, and I’m hopeful — and I say this as a history professor — that someday we will look back on this as a cautionary tale about authoritarianism,” Bray said.
The university told the Post that administrators were aware of the Turning Point USA petition and Bray's message to students.
“We are gathering more information about this evolving situation,” the university said in a statement.
Bray, the author of four books on anarchism and antifa, also faced widespread criticism when he told NBC News’s “Meet the Press” in 2017, while a lecturer at Dartmouth University, that violence was sometimes justified, after the deadly “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
Dartmouth's president at the time condemned Bray in a statement and accused him “supporting violent protest," but more than 100 of the university's faculty members rallied around him.
Turning Point USA did not respond to requests for comment on the report, but the Trump administration justified the threats he received by blaming Kirk's assassination, which remains under investigation, on "Democrat violence," but Bray characterized the threats chasing him to Europe as part of the president's crackdown on academic freedom.
“There’s been a concerted attack on universities, and I feel like this is a facet of that," Bray said, "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.”
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