University of Wisconsin TA Reassigned Over Alleged Anti-Semitic Posts
Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Image by flickr
By Aiden Pink October 12, 2017
A chemistry PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is no longer serving as an instructional teaching assistant after a fellow student disclosed his alleged history of anti-Semitic statements on social media.
Dylan Bleier was the subject of a blog post by graduate student CV Vitolo-Haddad, who wrote that Bleier had disseminated swastikas and other racist and homophobic messages while an undergraduate at Oberlin College in 2013.
Bleier allegedly claimed that he only did so to get a reaction out of people. He responded on Tuesday by saying that he was never suspended by Oberlin or charged with a crime.
Vitolo-Haddad also shared what she said were social media posts made by Bleier, including retweets of anti-Semitic cartoons and the messages “the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] is confirmed Jew” and “1488 gas the kikes race war now.” 1488 is a common neo-Nazi meme, with 14 referring to the “14 Words” slogan and the 88 representing HH for “Heil Hitler” (H is the 8th letter of the alphabet).
Bleier told the Daily Cardinal student newspaper that he had “never been a member of any white supremacist group.”
“I do not hold and have never held any white supremacist or racist or homophobic views,” Bleier said.
Update, October 16: The story has been updated to reflect the fact that Bleier left his teaching position by mutual agreement with the university.
**Update, October 17: The story has been updated to better convey the nature of Bleier’s alleged anti-Semitic remarks.
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink
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