Rutgers TPUSA officers slam shutdown petition as ‘blatantly defamatory’

Rutgers University Officers Turning point United States The chapter opposes a petition from a tech developer calling for the conservative group to be disbanded, calling the effort “patently defamatory.”

“The petition to disband our Turning Point chapter is blatantly defamatory,” Ava Kwan, outreach coordinator for the Turning Point USA chapter at Rutgers, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“The accusations of ‘inciting violence’ and ‘uttering threats’ are pure lies,” Kwan said. “The same people who claim we are suppressing their free speech are actively trying to silence us for speaking the truth. This is not only ironic, it is hypocritical and absurd.”

PETITION LAUNCHED FOR RUTGERS TO DISMAND THE SCHOOL’S TPUSA CHAPTER

Officials with Rutgers University’s Turning Point USA chapter are opposing a petition from a tech developer calling for the conservative group to be disbanded, calling the effort “patently defamatory.” (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Earlier this week, a tech developer started a Change.org petition to remove the Rutgers TPUSA chapter, accusing the group of promoting “hate speech” and creating a “toxic environment.”

“Having lived in New Jersey my entire life, I have always cherished the inclusive educational environment we have cultivated here,” said the petition on Change.org lit, which appears to have been organized by Alexander Di Filippo, who is listed as the initiator of the petition.

Di Filippo, who has no mention of Rutgers University on his LinkedIn page, is a Rochester Institute of Technology alumnus, majoring in game design and development, and minoring in music, technology and creative writing.

“The Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has consistently promoted hate speech and incited violence against our community,” the petition adds. “This disturbing behavior has created a toxic environment that has already led to tragic consequences. Alarmingly, a respected professor felt forced to leave the country, fearing for his family’s safety due to the threats and harassment cultivated by this group.”

Kwan told Fox News Digital that “any opinion that challenges their worldview is immediately labeled ‘hate speech,’ a meaningless term used to control dissent and protect their false narrative.” The petition, Bray’s retreat abroad, and my own doxxing by the unhinged leftists at Rutgers all tell the same story: They know they’re losing.

Last week, the Turning Point USA chapter at Rutgers started a petition to impeach Rutgers University professor Mark Bray, citing concerns over his past statements in support of Antifa.

Bray, who is the author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook”, “The Anarchist Inquisition: Assassins, Activists, and Martyrs in Spain and France” and “Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street”, said he would move his family to Europe for safety reasons.

PROFESSOR ‘DR ANTIFA’ RUTGERS ANNOUNCES HIS MOVE TO EUROPE AFTER TPUSA PETITION CALLS FOR HIS TERMINATION

Charlie Kirk speaks before being murdered during the Turning Point tour at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

In “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” Bray noted that “at least 50 percent of the author’s proceeds will go to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund which is administered by more than three hundred antifa from eighteen countries.”

In a Article from September 12 on Blueskythe social media platform popular with progressives, Bray promoted a September 13 event he was presenting at in New York, titled “Another War is Possible: Experiences in the Fight Against Deportation, Fascism, and Capitalist Globalization.”

In an Oct. 4 article on Bluesky, Bray wrote, “It’s true that sometimes the law holds Trump back and offers us a semblance of security. But the more we rely on the law as our shield, the more powerful it will become like a sword when Trump turns it in his favor and uses it against us. Only mass anti-fascism, legal or not, can save us.

In his book “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” Bray writes: “Without doubt, street blockades and other forms of confrontational opposition can be very useful against any political opponent, but once far-right groups have succeeded in spreading their xenophobic and dystopian agendas, it is up to us to drown them out with even better alternatives to austerity and party incompetence. power of right and left. Left. On its own, militant anti-fascism is necessary but not sufficient to build a new world in the shell of the old. »

Megyn Doyle, a Rutgers student and treasurer of the Turning Point USA chapter who started the Change.org petition to remove Bray, told Fox News Digital in a statement that Di Filippo’s petition is defamatory.

“The petition proves once again that conservative students are still targets of hatred when speaking out about issues of concern,” Doyle said.

“The petition is defamatory in every way possible. We do not tolerate death threats, hate speech or harassment towards anyone who opposes us,” she added. “To suggest that we are responsible for making such threats against this professor is completely false. Our petition seeks to inform students, alumni, donors, and even non-students about Mark Bray, an antifa-aligned professor and supporter. Many of those who have signed my petition believe that Mark Bray should not be employed at Rutgers University because of these ties and his endorsement of pro-political violence in his book “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.”

Doyle also said the petition to remove their TPUSA chapter “does not reflect a genuine concern for free speech. Instead, it seeks to suppress the voices of conservative students and restrict their right to freely express their opinions.”

Fox News Digital has contacted Rutgers for comment, as well as Di Filippo via Change.org.

TURNING POINT’S “CLUB AMERICA” CHAPTERS AND WHY THEY’RE GROWING IN OKLAHOMA AND THE SOUTH

Megyn Doyle, a Rutgers student and treasurer of the Turning Point USA chapter, who started the Change.org petition to remove Bray, told Fox News Digital in a statement that Di Filippo’s petition was defamatory. (Rutgers University)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP