Haverford Religion Professor Detained Over Antisemitic Online Threats to Colleague

A federal judge ordered the detention of Guangtian Ha, an assistant professor of religion at Haverford College, after an FBI investigation linked him to more than 50 threatening posts on X aimed at a fellow professor. Prosecutors say the anonymous accounts disclosed the victim’s home address, the name of an infant child, and invoked Nazi and recent Gaza conflict imagery, prompting the colleague’s family to flee the neighborhood.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Carissimi described Ha’s conduct as a “persistent obsession” and warned that release would hinder monitoring. The magistrate expressed concerns about flight risk because Ha holds a Chinese passport. Ha entered a not-guilty plea, while supporters—including faculty and a civil-rights director—argued the alleged messages were out of character.

The maximum penalty, if convicted, could be five years in prison. A future court date has not been set.