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Princeton prof blames President Trump for bomb threat against school

Cites Ed Dept.’s investigation into its systemic racism

Princeton University evacuated its campus on Saturday after receiving a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax.

After receiving news of the bomb threat against the Ivy League school, an African-American Studies professor claimed that the threat was the fault of President Donald Trump and his administration for investigating the school for racism.

Professor Keeanga-Yahmahtta Taylor, a regular critic of Trump, tweeted just seven minutes after university officials posted the evacuation announcement.

“It is no coincidence that Princeton University was singled out for abuse by the Trump Administration earlier this week & this morning the campus must be evacuated because of bomb threats made across the campus. It is ritual: Trump gins up the base on racism & harassment ensues,” Taylor wrote.

 

The public safety department confirmed it was an unsubstantiated threat two hours later.

Professor Taylor, who authored a book about Black Lives Matter, did not respond to an emailed request Wednesday for comment from The College Fix on what information she used in linking the bomb threat to the Department of Education’s investigation of Princeton and if she still believed there was a link.

The Department of Education launched an investigation on September 16 into the Ivy League university after its president, Christopher Eisgruber, said that racism was “embedded” in the university.

Eisgruber wrote on September 2:

Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at Princeton as in our society, sometimes by conscious intention but more often through unexamined assumptions and stereotypes, ignorance or insensitivity, and the systemic legacy of past decisions and policies. Race-based inequities in America’s health care, policing, education, and employment systems affect profoundly the lives of our staff, students, and faculty of color.

Racist assumptions from the past also remain embedded in structures of the University itself.

The DOE plans to investigate whether the university violated the Civil Rights Act and as a result improperly received millions of dollars in federal funding.

“It’s amazing how the federal government is just a tool of the Trump thugs to harass and intimidate. The White Power presidency goes all in on culture war and the rest of us pay the price. This week led by the erroneously named Dept of ‘Education,’” Taylor tweeted on Sept. 17 in reaction to the news of the investigation.

She gave a commencement speech in 2017 at Hampshire College, where she told the graduates that President Trump was one of the biggest dangers facing the country.

“The president of the United States, the most powerful politician in the world, is a racist sexist megalomaniac,” Taylor said. “It is not a benign observation but has meant tragic consequences for many people in our country.”

MORE: Professor suspended for allegedly wishing death on Trump supporters

IMAGES: Kah-WaiLin / Flickr, Keaeanga-Yamahtta Taylor / Twitter

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About the Author
Associate Editor
Matt has previously worked at Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action and Turning Point USA. While in college, he wrote for The College Fix as well as his college newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix. He previously interned for government watchdog group Open the Books. He holds a B.A. from Loyola University-Chicago and an M.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He lives in northwest Indiana with his family.