US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport

A Rutgers University professor who taught a course on anti-fascism and was blocked from leaving the US for Spain on Wednesday evening, according to media stories, hours after Donald Trump hosted a White House roundtable highlighting the affect of antifa – or “anti-fascist” – far-left activists is now departing.

Mark Bray, an historian who revealed the 2017 guide Antifa: the Anti-Fascist Handbook and has taught programs on anti-fascism at the New Jersey college, posted on the social media platform Bluesky that “Our plane to Spain is in the air!”. Bray was making an attempt to board a airplane at Newark airport when he was informed at the boarding gate that the reservations for him and his household had been cancelled.

The professor, nicknamed “Dr Antifa” by a group of college students, had said he was shifting to Europe after receiving death threats. Turning Point USA activists have claimed he’s a “financier” for the leftwing motion.

Related: Kristi Noem compares antifa to MS-13, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State

“‘Someone’ cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second,” Bray posted on Bluesky. “We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared’.”

A petition calling for his removing from the college had been launched in the weeks following the assassination of the Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Bray’s home deal with was revealed on social media.

One risk included a vow to kill him in entrance of his college students, according to the Washington Post. The threats led to Bray’s determination to relocate to Spain with his spouse and two kids and to continue to educate his college students remotely.

“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 e mail to college students on Sunday. “Truly I am so bummed about not being able to spend time with you all in the classroom.”

Bray told the New York Times earlier on Wednesday that “my role in this is as a professor. I’ve never been part of an antifa group, and I’m not currently.” But he added that “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.”

Bray told the outlet that the household had been rebooked for Thursday night but had been in the darkish about why the earlier reserving had been cancelled. “I may sound conspiratorial, but I don’t think it is a coincidence,” he said. “We’re at a hotel and we’re just going to try again.”

After Kirk’s assassination, the rightwing influencer Jack Posobiec called Bray a “domestic terrorist professor” on X. The Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA then circulated a petition that accused the professor of being an “outspoken, well-known antifa member” and called for his dismissal.

The Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA has said it doesn’t help harassment or doxing, but Bray is on a listing of lecturers the group identifies as advancing left-leaning classroom propaganda.

“Do 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,” the Rutgers chapter posted on Instagram a number of days in the past.

In a assertion, Rutgers said it didn’t remark on personnel or scholar conduct issues.

“Rutgers 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,” it added.

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