Haverford professor charged with cyberstalking and antisemitic harassment of colleague
A Haverford professor was arrested Tuesday following an FBI investigation into his cyberstalking activity that allegedly involved antisemitic harassment.
A Haverford College professor was arrested Tuesday and charged with cyberstalking a colleague, following an FBI investigation. Messages he sent to the colleague were laden with antisemitic threats, according to court documents.
Over seven months, Guangtian Ha, an assistant professor of religion, used anonymous X accounts to expose his work peer’s home address and infant child’s name. He posted a photo of the family’s mailbox and sent the peer dozens of antisemitic threats online and real-time observations of their home, according to court records.
Ha’s colleague was not named in the filings.
The cyberstalking began in October 2025 when Ha, using the X account “America1st33509,” posted a photo of the peer’s home mailbox, court documents say.
In January, Ha, under another account, “America1stLM,” began sending hateful messages to the peer, according to the filings.
Ha continued to post that he knew what his peer’s house looked like and that he knew security cameras had been installed. The peer’s spouse and three children fled the home. Ha continued to create more fake accounts and send more antisemitic messages to his colleague, according to court records. This persisted until May, when Ha’s latest account was suspended, the records said.
In total, Ha sent more than 50 threatening messages, many invoking the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, and the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel as tactics to frighten the peer, according to court records.
The peer’s spouse and three children temporarily moved out of their home twice. The family did not allow the children to play in the front yard or wait for the school bus each morning during this period.
The FBI linked the burner accounts to Ha’s home. The accounts were also accessed from IP addresses designated for faculty and staff of Haverford College.
If convicted, Ha could face up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines. Court records did not list a lawyer for Ha.
Ha and the peer have offices in the same building at Haverford College, according to court records. They also live in the same neighborhood.
Haverford sent a message Tuesday to students and staff addressing the situation.
Ha was on sabbatical leave and not teaching this academic year, according to the email from Haverford president Wendy Raymond. He is now on administrative leave and barred from campus while the criminal case moves forward, she wrote.
“I am heartbroken and furious at the possibility that an individual within our community would seek to inflict such pain on another,” Raymond wrote.
Andrew Goretsky, senior regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, said that he was alarmed this person was in such proximity to students and that this kind of talk should not be misconstrued as political discourse.
“Criticizing Israeli policy is legitimate; targeting Jews because of Israel is antisemitism,” he wrote.
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