Philly Leader

Dr. Ian Sharp's name was included on a list of of academics with Twitter accounts linked to Antifa messaging.  

The list was based a data analysis by Dr. Eoin Lenihan.

Sharp is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Intern Chair of Undergrad Psychology at Chestnut Hill College.

Dr. Ian Sharp

According to Lenihan, Sharp uses the platform to endorse Antifa messaging.

“(H)e regularly amplifies and spreads doxes shared by Antifa on his Twitter timeline,” Lenihan said. “For Antifa, the chief aim of doxing those deemed enemies or white supremacists is to inflict psychological stress on them — fear for their personal safety, their job, their family etc. For a Psychology professor to engage in this practice is an egregious abuse of power/vocation.”

Included in tweets from Sharp’s account were a retweet of ColoradoSprings Antifa.

“Hot take: Antifa is good,” Sharp wrote in one tweet.  

In addition, Lenihan pointed out Sharp regular used the platform to target conservatives.

“Sharp has consistently harassed conservatives such as Andy Ngo, Tucker Carlson and other media figures for several years and he helps people in the Philly area organise for Antifa rallies,” Lenihan said.

The technique used by Lenihan to determine which academics to highlight on the list was a search of all Twitter bios including the word “professor” and cross-searching user tweets for Antifa content.

“In recent years there have been several high-profile cases of university staff with direct links to Antifa who have not only brought their extremist views into the classroom but who have been defended by their institutions for doing so,” Lenihan said in the Medium article outing the lecturers.

Notable examples of academics with links to Antifa include include Mark Bray, the author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook”, who has advocated for violent protest.

Bray was disavowed by the Dartmouth’s president in 2017.

Lenihan said the analysis does not mean any of those identified are affiliated with violent rioting and looting throughout the nation.

“(T)here are several reasons that an academic may have close social-media ties with an extremist group and close ties does not, immediately, indicate any wrongdoing,” Lenihan said.