(AURN News) — Rutgers University history professor Mark Bray says he and his family fled the United States for Spain after receiving a wave of violent threats connected to his academic work on anti-fascism.
“First of all, it’s me and my wife, who was also a history professor, and our two small children who have had to leave the country,” Bray said in an exclusive interview with AURN News. “It’s been terrifying. It’s been harrowing. Our whole life has been turned upside down.”
Bray, author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” said the threats escalated after what he described as online campaigns labeling him a “domestic terrorist professor” and distorting his record.
“Turning Point USA organized a campaign against me, really distorting my publishing record and my academic record, calling for me to be fired,” he said. “And that’s when the trickle of death threats turned into a wave.”
He said his home address and family information were later published online.
“Someone published my home address and information about my family publicly on X,” he told AURN News. “And I knew I just couldn’t stay safely in my home. I needed to get away.”
But the family’s effort to leave the country brought another shock.
“Right when it was time to board the plane, there was an error. We were taken aside. A bunch of phone calls were made. Mumbling was going on. My children were sobbing because they couldn’t get on the airplane,” he said.
“We were told that someone, at the last moment, had canceled our reservations — not the whole flight, just the four reservations for me, my wife, and my children,” Bray recalled.
Eventually, Bray and his family made it to Spain, where he says life feels safer but still unsettled.
“I’m recording lectures, I’m having meetings with students, I’m responding to emails,” Bray said. “Taking my kids to the toy store, getting them ice cream, trying to make this into something that they can feel good about.”
Still, Bray tells AURN News that the entire ordeal of fleeing the U.S. carries a broader warning and a bigger message.
“We’re starting to put the pieces back together,” he said. “This is, in a sense, about me, but this is potentially about all of us who could potentially be considered enemies of the regime.”
Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Jamie Jackson:
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