On October 9, 2025, Mark Bray, an assistant professor of history at Rutgers, and his family fled the United States for Spain after a public campaign against him, including death threats, for his academic work on antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist, anti-racist political movement that opposes far-right ideologies.
In 2017, Bray, an expert on modern Spanish history, gained public recognition for his academic work, Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, which explores the philosophy and tactics of global anti-fascist movements. Bray donated half of his book’s profits to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, but has never been a member of any antifascist group. In recent years, his academic work has taken other directions.
The public campaign against Bray began after September 22, 2025, when US President Donald Trump signed an executive order labeling antifa a “terrorist organization.” In the wake of the order, a group of student members of Turning Point USA’s Rutgers University chapter launched a petition calling for Rutgers to fire Bray, claiming that Bray endorses anti-facist tactics. The campaign escalated after Fox News reported on the petition, and an influencer posted a message to X calling Bray a “domestic terrorist professor.” Bray received at least three death threats, including one threatening to kill him in front of his students. His home address was published on social media. Bray’s wife, Yesenia Barragan, an associate professor in Rutger’s History Department, also received threats related to her husband’s academic work. The campaign prompted Bray and Barragan to move their family to Spain for the remainder of the academic year. Rutgers University approved requests from Bray and Barrigan to teach their classes remotely.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the intimidation and harassment, including threats of violence, of an academic for exercising academic freedom and freedom of expression – conduct which is protected by international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Political actors, journalists, and other members of the public must refrain from actions that chill or restrict such conduct, regardless of political or ideological differences. In addition to harm to the immediate victims, intimidation and harassment in response to peaceful expressive activity undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://whyy.org/articles/rutgers-professor-antifa-conservative-students/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/09/anti-fascism-mark-bray-rutgers-university
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/nyregion/rutgers-professor-threats-antifa.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/10/08/rutgers-mark-bray-antifa/
https://rutgersaaup.org/defending-our-colleagues-from-attacks-by-the-rutgers-chapter-of-turning-point-usa-2/