Ferris State University professor in Michigan who tweeted antisemitic conspiracy theories placed on administrative leave

A professor at a Michigan university has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly posting tweets which contained antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

The tweets by Thomas Brennan, a professor of physical science at Ferris State University (FSU), included references to a “Jewish mafia” and a claim that COVID-19 was “another Jewish revolution” and a “stunt” to create a “new world order.”

FSU President David Eisler announced on Monday that Prof. Brennan had been placed on administrative leave following his comments, and said that the University condemned the professor’s offensive statements. “We strongly reject these statements, condemn them and will not tolerate them,” Mr Eisler declared. The Board of Trustees also issued a statement backing the move to our Prof. Brennan on leave.

Prof. Brennan denied being an antisemite. In a statement he said: “I do not believe that middle-class Jews are involved in an international conspiracy, only that a small number of their elites are.” He continued: “Israel and the Jews should not be blamed for the crimes of a small number of mobsters like Jeffery Epstein or Ghislane Maxwell [sic] who used paedophile blackmail to control American politicians. I’m not an antisemite. I love and respect Jews just as I do all races, and I pray for Israel, just as I pray for America.”

Prof. Brennan went on to warn that the “entire world has fallen under the spell of a satanic, globalist elite” whose “end-goal is a technocratic, one-world government, where everyone, Jew and Gentile, will be micro-chipped and tracked 24/7.”

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