Rutgers professor Kevin Allred was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York City for a psychiatric evaluation Tuesday after making comments in class and on Twitter that were interpreted as threats to kill white people.
Allred was evaluated and released after about two hours, with professionals determining he was not a threat or in need of treatment.
According to The Associated Press, Allred claimed Rutgers was trying to shut down his free speech rights by reporting him to police and said his comments were rhetorical, not threatening.
Allred’s comments were partially in response to Donald Trump’s election to the presidency. He posed the question in class and on Twitter, “Would people feel the same way about being so lenient with the Second Amendment if people went out and got guns to shoot random white people?” the New York Daily News reported.
A student reported the question to the school. Rutgers then called the police to investigate Allred, who told the Daily News, “The doctors were like, ‘This is ridiculous, why did they bring you here?’
“And this is for exercising my ... First Amendment rights. I’m being labeled a threat and put in a psych hospital. Trump’s crackdown on free speech has absolutely begun,” he continued.
Rutgers spokesman Jeffrey Tolvin gave a statement about the incident, saying, “The Rutgers University Police Department responded to a complaint from a student and took all appropriate action. We have no further comment,” the Daily News reported.
Allred drew attention in the past when he taught a women’s and gender studies class called “Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyonce.”
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