A Penn State associate professor reportedly called for the deaths of prominent right-wing voices, including President Trump, Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson. The story was first reported by Andy Ngo of The Post Millennial, who shared screenshots of violent tweets allegedly sent by the professor.
Zach Furness, an associate professor of communications at Penn State, reportedly sent the tweets in question in reply to the popular “crazy a** moments in American history” Twitter account. On March 26, the account shared a photo of President Trump tossing out paper towels to Puerto Ricans whose community had been decimated by Hurricane Maria. Furness reportedly replied to the tweet saying that Trump should have been “Lincoln’d” moments after the photo, according to Ngo. The reply was in reference to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
.@penn_state associate communications professor Zack Furness tweeted today that former President Trump should have been assassinated by gunfire. His academic work is influenced by Marxism & critical pedagogy. He previously made a list of people he wanted dead. pic.twitter.com/phmevlSymY
— Andy Ngô
(@MrAndyNgo) March 26, 2022
Ngo shared additional screenshots of tweets reportedly sent by the Penn State professor in which he hoped that several conservative and centrist figures would be killed. “I’d like to build an arc and fill it with, Michael Tracey, Andrew Sullivan, Bari Weiss, Andy Ngo, Ian Miles Cheong, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, and Fox & Friends. And then launch it toward the sun,” Furness wrote on Sept. 9, 2020.
Furness has since deleted the “@punkademic” Twitter handle that the tweets were sent from.
“My name is Zack Furness and I am Associate Professor of Communications at Penn State University’s Greater Allegheny campus, where I also serve as the Communications Program Coordinator and the WMKP Radio General Manager,” reads a biography for Furness on the Penn State’s website. “My work as both a researcher and a teacher draws upon a web of influences that include communication and cultural studies, cultural geography, feminist and Marxist theory, anarchism, environmentalism, critical pedagogy, history and philosophy of technology, and punk rock,” he added.
Furness also describes himself as an avid punk-rock fan who has performed in several bands. He has taught several classes at Penn State University, Greater Allegheny, many of which revolve around the media, music, and communications. One particular communications class, titled “Gender, Diversity & the Media,” explores the cultural, socioeconomic, historical, and political implications of media content, media practices, and media literacy, reports The Post Millennial.