An adjunct professor who teaches at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. was taken to a NYC psychiatric hospital after campus police said that he made threats to kill white people who supported the President-elect, Donald Trump, via Twitter.
According to NBC 4 New York, Kevin Allred was subsequently released from Bellevue Hospital after they conducted a mental evaluation on him. Campus police caught wind of his remarks about Trump on Twitter. NJ.com writes that someone reported that Allred’s tweets regarding gun control and flag burning were also questionable.
Allred, a white gay man who created the school’s popular “Politicizing Beyonce” course, was forced to remove a tweet about the Second Amendment. In a separate tweet summarizing his thoughts, he wrote, “i said: would conservatives care as much abt the 2nd amendment if guns killed more white people? a question meant to expose double standard.” NBC 4 reports that he was sent to the hospital for “rhetorical statements” and not threats.
“so now i haven’t slept in 24 hours thanks to police intimidation & i’m headed back to teach my classes today. BUT I’M THE PROBLEM SOMEHOW?” he wrote on Twitter today (Nov. 16).
“No matter your political view, ethnicity, religious beliefs, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or nationality, you are first and foremost a Rutgers student,” wrote Rutgers President Robert Barchi in a statement. “You are owed our respect, our support, and our best efforts to keep you safe and secure as you express your opinions and pursue your studies.”
& couple clarificiations:
-i was NEVER arrested
-i passed the psych eval quickly & was released
-there are no charges against me— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 17, 2016
the accusation (because it was only 1 that led to this) was meant to paint me as unstable. proved patently false by 3 diff drs at Bellevue
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 17, 2016
that tweet was not a threat. it was a hyperbolic question posed to show a double standard-look at context/tone of most every tweet i make.
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016
mood since Tuesday night: pic.twitter.com/J0YHfxbsgb
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 14, 2016
Trump’s tax plan will raise taxes for already poor and middle class and give huge breaks to the richest. cool. fuck amerika.
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 15, 2016
YES, my 2nd amendment tweet was incendiary but completely w/in free speech. ZERO direct threat involved. posed as a rhetorical question.
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016
Rutgers touts themselves as most diverse campus in US, but hasn’t issued any statement on safety of their students post-Trump as a priority.
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 11, 2016