Fox News reported Tuesday that Conway said in a statement she was writing to “reaffirm Rutgers University’s unwavering commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression — values that define a great research university and underpin our mission of discovery, dialogue, and public engagement.”
“Incidents involving ‘doxing’ and harassment of faculty members understandably raise deep concerns across our community. I want to express my support for any member of our community who has been targeted for their scholarship,” Conway added.
A few weeks ago, the Turning Point USA chapter on campus launched a petition to remove assistant teaching professor Mark Bray, who authored the book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.
Bray has been dubbed “Dr. Antifa”:
In a social media post on October 10, Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said when the students launched their petition, another petition called for the chapter to be disbanded.
“The latter was an outrageous, slanderous document accusing TPUSA (not Antifa) of ‘promoting hate speech and inciting violence against our community.’ One of our students was doxed and threatened, but has stayed put to defend TPUSA and their right to free speech. It was the coward Bray who fled to Spain,” he wrote:
Indeed, the Fox article said Bray was leaving for Europe and claimed he had been doxed and received death threats.
In 2017, Bray expressed support for Antifa’s confrontation tactics by arguing that Nazism had to be stopped by force and self-defense remains necessary, according to Breitbart News.
Months later, Bray announced that half of the proceeds from his book on Antifa would directly fund the group’s protests.
“In his book, Bray writes that violence is a ‘vital’ part of Antifa activity. ‘In truth, violence represents a small though vital sliver of anti-fascist activity,’ Bray wrote. ‘Anti-fascists don’t wait for a fascist threat to become violent before acting to shut it down, physically if necessary,’” the Breitbart News report said.
The petition seeking to remove the Turning Point USA chapter from Rutgers reportedly included support from an associate professor of religion named Tia Kolbaba.
The Breitbart News article said “Kolbaba has many good ratings on the popular Rate My Professors, though a Google search shows that one student wrote on the site, ‘Nasty woman who hates anything conservative. I felt threatened by her. She wants to shut down free speech.’”
Per the Fox report, Conway has told Rutgers’ leaders to review safety protocols, while also noting she is against doxing and threatening faculty and students.
Conway added the university encourages “open and robust debate.”
However, a Rutgers student and its Turning Point USA chapter’s treasurer, Megyn Doyle, told Fox Conway’s statement was defending Bray.
“If Rutgers truly aims to protect academic freedom, freedom of speech, and open debate, it must hold Mark Bray to that same standard,” she stated.
In September, President Donald Trump officially designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, and later said he would designate the group a foreign terrorist organization.
Breitbart News
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