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A campaign of antisemitic threats, Holocaust references, and online intimidation escalated to the point that a terrified wife and children repeatedly sought refuge elsewhere.
By Jordan Levy
A Pennsylvania college professor who allegedly masqueraded as a supporter of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement to unleash a campaign of antisemitic harassment against a Jewish colleague has been ordered to remain in federal custody pending trial.
Guangtian Ha, 42, a professor of religion at Haverford College, faces a federal cyberstalking charge after investigators accused him of operating multiple anonymous social media accounts to threaten and intimidate a fellow faculty member and his family over approximately seven months.
The allegations are particularly disturbing because the threatening messages appeared to come from an extremist American nationalist, while the person prosecutors identify as their author was an academic specializing in religion and culture who had previously criticized efforts to combat campus antisemitism.
According to federal prosecutors, Ha allegedly sent approximately 50 threatening messages between October 2025 and May 2026, repeatedly invoking Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust, and the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.
The harassment reportedly became so frightening that the Jewish professor’s wife and three children temporarily fled their home on two occasions.
Ha pleaded not guilty on October 13. A federal judge ordered him detained pending trial, citing concerns about the threats and the safety of the community.
According to the federal indictment, Ha allegedly operated at least four anonymous accounts on X, formerly Twitter, using names that included variations of “America First,” a slogan associated with American nationalist politics.
Conservative media outlets, including Breitbart and The Post Millennial, reported that the accounts were designed to resemble those of MAGA supporters.
The indictment itself establishes the alleged use of anonymous accounts and their threatening content, but does not establish that Ha’s purpose was to discredit Trump supporters.
The messages were filled with antisemitic insults and warnings that suggested the sender knew where the Jewish professor lived.
In one particularly frightening message, the anonymous account allegedly warned:
“Run. Flee. Leave. Blurring your home on google map and installing a security camera next to your mailbox won’t help.”
Other messages invoked Nazi persecution and threatened a renewed Holocaust.
One declared, “The end of American jews is close,” before singling out Jews in Lower Merion, the Pennsylvania community where the victim lived.
Another warned that Jews would once again be placed in camps.
The alleged harassment extended beyond political rhetoric or hateful statements about Israel. Prosecutors say the accounts published the victim’s home address, identified his young child, and shared photographs of his property.
The sender also appeared to reference security precautions the family had taken, creating the impression that their home was under surveillance.
The alleged campaign had devastating consequences for the victim’s family.
According to court documents described by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the professor’s wife and three children temporarily moved out of their home twice because of the threats.
The family reportedly stopped allowing the children to play in the front yard or wait outside for the school bus.
Investigators say Ha and the victim worked in the same building at Haverford College and lived in the same neighborhood.
That proximity added another disturbing dimension to the case: the alleged perpetrator was not a distant anonymous extremist but someone who worked alongside the victim.
Federal investigators eventually traced the anonymous accounts through internet activity associated with Ha’s home and Haverford College.
Prosecutors also allege that Ha frequently used virtual private networks, or VPNs, to conceal his internet address and make the messages more difficult to trace.
Ha’s background has drawn additional scrutiny.
According to The Forward, Ha had previously been named in a lawsuit brought by Jewish students against Haverford College over allegations of campus antisemitism.
The professor had also reportedly characterized some efforts to combat antisemitism as “Zionist witch hunts.”
The lawsuit against the college was recently settled.
Ha’s academic work has focused extensively on Islam, religion, and culture in China. His scholarly publications include research on Muslim communities and religious practices.
The contrast between his academic position and the violent antisemitic messages attributed to him has shocked members of the college community.
Following his arrest, Haverford College President Wendy Raymond announced that Ha had been placed on administrative leave and barred from campus while the criminal proceedings continue.
Raymond condemned the alleged attacks as incompatible with the institution’s values.
Ha was on sabbatical and was not teaching during the current academic year.
The case took another turn on October 13, when Ha appeared in federal court and pleaded not guilty.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Carissimi argued that Ha had demonstrated a sustained pattern of threatening behavior and that his online activity could not be adequately monitored if he were released.
Defense attorney Susan Lin emphasized that Ha had no prior criminal record and presented testimony from colleagues and acquaintances who described the allegations as inconsistent with the man they knew.
Among those supporting Ha at the hearing was Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR-Philadelphia, who testified favorably about his character.
Haverford professor David Harrington Watt, who teaches courses on antisemitism, also expressed shock at the allegations and described the messages as deeply troubling.
Magistrate Judge Pamela A. Carlos nevertheless ordered Ha detained, expressing serious concern about the threats against both the victim’s family and Jews more broadly.
The judge also raised concerns about the possibility of flight.
If convicted of the federal cyberstalking charge, Ha faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The arrest came as American universities continue to face intense scrutiny over their handling of antisemitism following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The case has drawn attention not simply because of the allegations of anti-Jewish hatred, but because of the apparent effort to conceal the sender’s identity behind accounts associated with a different political movement.
The allegations also illustrate how online intimidation can spill into the physical world, forcing families to change their routines, install security measures, and even abandon their homes temporarily.
For the Jewish professor and his family, the threats were not merely offensive posts on social media. According to prosecutors, they created a sustained fear for their personal safety.
The central question now before the federal court is whether prosecutors can prove that Ha was responsible for the threatening campaign.
Until then, the charges remain allegations, and Ha is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
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