UNC professor on administrative leave over alleged ties to anti-fascist organization
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UNC placed a professor on administrative leave over alleged ties to Redneck Revolt
- University cited reports of “advocacy of politically motivated violence” for review
- Professor says he left the group in 2018 and group disbanded in 2019
UNC-Chapel Hill placed one of its professors on administrative leave this week following reports that he was associated with a group that describes itself as “an anti-racist, anti-fascist community defense formation.”
Dwayne Dixon, a teaching associate professor in UNC’s department of Asian and Middle Eastern studies and an activist who has participated in demonstrations around the Triangle, is on leave as of Monday, the university’s media relations department confirmed to The News & Observer. The decision followed “recent reports and expressions of concern regarding alleged advocacy of politically motivated violence,” Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing Dean Stoyer said in a statement.
“Placing Dr. Dixon on leave will allow the University to investigate these allegations in a manner that protects the integrity of its assessment,” Stoyer said.
But Dixon, who did not immediately respond to The N&O’s request for comment, told The Daily Tar Heel that he has not been a member of the organization since 2018. The organization itself disbanded in 2019, according to a pop-up message displayed on its website Wednesday. And there does not appear to be any evidence Dixon was involved with an incident at Georgetown University — hundreds of miles from Chapel Hill — that spurred concerns over the group among conservative activists and media.
The move to place Dixon on leave came after Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet posted a photo on X of a flyer at Georgetown that read: “Hey, fascist! Catch!” The same phrase was printed on a bullet recovered by police after the fatal shooting of Turning Point founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last month.
The flyer, according to Kolvet’s post, included a QR code linked to “the John Brown Club” and also read: “The only political group that celebrates when Nazis die.”
On Saturday, Fox News reported that Dixon is a member of Redneck Revolt, a group founded in 2016 that describes itself as “an aboveground militant formation” that “stands for organized defense of our communities.” The group is against white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy, according to its principles.
Dixon was listed as a member of the “Silver Valley” chapter of the organization early in 2018, when he spoke on a Harvard University panel about his experience protesting the white-supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. On the panel, Dixon discussed “armed self-defense and the need for a diversity of tactics in anti-fascist resistance,” according to a description on YouTube.
According to Redneck Revolt: “In states where it is legal to practice armed community defense, many branches choose to become John Brown Gun Clubs, training ourselves and our communities in defense and mutual aid.”
Kolvet, sharing the Fox story, called for Dixon to be “immediately fired” for his alleged ties to the group.
It’s unclear whether Dixon had ever been a member of a John Brown Gun Club. A website for Redneck Revolt is still active, though a request for comment sent by The N&O to an email listed for media inquiries was unable to be delivered because the address “couldn’t be found, or is unable to receive mail.”
The North Carolina chapter of the American Association of University Professors on Wednesday criticized UNC’s actions against Dixon, writing in a statement: “Right-wing activists are attacking Dixon for prior membership in a group that has been inactive since 2019, and are baselessly connecting him to flyers allegedly posted by a different group on a different campus outside of North Carolina.”
UNC officials have not decided how long Dixon will be on leave, “as it will depend on the time needed to thoroughly assess the allegations and investigate if needed,” Stoyer said in his statement. Depending on “the nature and circumstances of this activity,” Dixon could be subject to disciplinary action including “potential termination,” Stoyer said.
Stoyer concluded: “The University continues to reaffirm its commitment to rigorous debate, respectful engagement, and open dialogue in support of free speech. There is no place for or tolerance of inciting or extending sympathy toward violence of any kind within the UNC community.”
In a statement to ABC11, The N&O’s newsgathering partner, Dixon said: “The administration’s decision to suspend me has implications for everyone on campus. This is not about a single person; it is an issue that affects all of us.”
In 2017, Dixon brought a semi-automatic rifle and extra ammunition to downtown Durham amid rumors and concerns that the Ku Klux Klan planned to demonstrate there. The white supremacist group never showed, and Dixon was charged with going armed to the terror of the people and bringing a weapon to a demonstration. The charges were later dismissed.
Dixon was also one of several protesters charged in connection with the demonstration in which Silent Sam, the Confederate monument that stood on UNC’s campus, was toppled in 2018. He was charged with simple assault of Patrick Howley, former editor-in-chief of Big League Politics. The charges were dismissed.
Rally to support Dixon draws large crowd
About 150 people attended a rally Wednesday in support of Dixon in front of UNC’s South Building, which houses the chancellor’s office.
Prior to the event, Dixon said in his statement: “This rally is powerful community demonstration of our shared desire for a better world. In solidarity and love, we struggle together to preserve our liberties.”
Supporters held signs with phrases that included “best professor I had at UNC;” “UNC takes orders from fascists;” and “first they came for the socialists…” in reference to the post-World War II poem by German pastor Martin Niemöller.
Students and faculty gave speeches as the crowd cheered, jingled tambourines and used vuvuzelas.
Michael Palm, a UNC communication professor who is president of the university’s chapter of AAUP, read from the organization’s statement.
“With their cowardly response, UNC’s administrators have not only violated Professor Dixon’s basic rights. They have also infringed on students’ right to an education by taking a professor out of their classroom during the middle of a semester,” Palm said. “This unexplained and unjustified decision has intensified an existing campus atmosphere of fear and censorship, further eroding students’ and faculty’s trust in UNC’s administration.”
Theodore Nollert, a Chapel Hill town council member who was previously a graduate student at UNC, told The N&O at Wednesday’s event that he wants the university to protect First Amendment rights “and protect them equally.”
University faculty and staff around the country have been fired or otherwise disciplined for comments they have made about Kirk’s killing, raising questions and concerns about whether First Amendment protections are being upheld.
“I think it’s really important for all of the workers at the university to recognize that they are part of this community,” Nollert said, “and that they need to work together to protect academic freedom and to protect the integrity and the sanctity of this university as a public institution that serves the people of North Carolina.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 12:21 PM.
