Remember me
A self-proclaimed 'anarchist' professor at UC Davis who wrote a threatening post online targeting pro-Israel people has been allowed to keep her job at the university.
Jemma DeCristo posted on X three days after the deadly October 7, 2023 Hamas rampage in Israel, warning that 'Zionist journalists' should fear for their lives.
Her post read: 'One group of people we have easy access to in the US is all these Zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation.
'They have houses with addresses, kids in school… they can fear their bosses but they should fear us more.'
The vile post, accompanied by knife, hatchet, and blood-drop emojis, ignited rage and fear among the California university's students, staff, and alumni, who sent hundreds of letters demanding she be fired.
A two-year internal investigation report revealed the university's 'inadequate' response to her X post, the SF Chronicle reported.
Instead of termination, like many students and staff were advocating for, DeCristo was censured for her 'tremendously disruptive' post in June 2025, per the report.
A censure is a formal statement condemning her misconduct, which is now part of the professor’s official file.
UC Davis Assistant Professor Jemma DeCristo, she suggested on X that 'Zionist journalists' should fear for their lives, leading to an outrage among the university's community
Pictured: DeCristo's post that sent shockwaves among the UC Davis community, leaving Jewish students and staff 'fearful' and 'anxious'
UC Davis Chancellor Gary S May suspended her for the academic quarter that August, costing her only two months of pay.
DeCristo has not taught since the public uproar and will not return for the next academic period, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Despite the outrage, DeCristo has declared the post was 'satire' and she 'never intended it to be taken seriously,' per the report.
The professor has refused to apologize, saying it would 'just fuel the right-wing media that was harassing her.'
'In the course of our interviews, we were struck by the amount of pain people experienced in response to the October 10 post,' the June 2024 investigative report stated.
Investigators also wrote that her post 'injured members of the Jewish community, who felt scared, isolated, and angry to see this type of violent and hateful rhetoric from a UC Davis professor.
'With no subsequent clarification or apology. Nor is there any question that the post caused a ripple effect of anxiety and increased burden on campus.'
The professor's X account per the investigative report, DeCristo has not offered an apology, and still refuses to do so, as she believes it will only 'fuel conservative media'
Street sign of UC Davis University, in Davis, California, where Chancellor Gary S. May censured and suspended the professor for the academic quarter in August 2025
While the findings concluded that DeCristo caused harm, they determined she 'did not intend' to instill fear, leading the university to decline terminating her employment.
'UC Davis has a choice. It can continue to treat this as an academic “misstep,” or it can act to protect Jewish students and faculty,' Reuven Taff, SF Chronicle Contributor, wrote.
'By retaining DeCristo, the university sends the message that explicit threats against Jews do not rise to the level of misconduct — and are acceptable behavior.'