State College police monitoring a Penn State student following concerns from the community

State College’s police chief acknowledged Monday night that his department is monitoring a Penn State student that some have labeled a right-wing extremist, after a community member shared concerns during a May 31 council work session.

The student — who was also the counter-protester involved in the Oliver Baker incident during last August’s pro-vaccine rally — was accused at the meeting and elsewhere, based on his social media, of supporting white supremacy, advocating rape if there were no consequences and joking about at least one school shooting. (He has not been accused of a crime.) Similar accusations for the student in question have also been made by one community group and another student-based group, and a webpage was recently published highlighting the student’s remarks with screenshots as evidence.

In response, State College Police Chief John Gardner made an appearance at Monday night’s council meeting to update council about what the borough manager referred to as a “potential threat in the community.” Posters with the student’s past statements on social media — excerpts of which the accused student says are nearly a year-old or older, before he was at University Park — were recently spotted downtown, and Gardner said the posters were not created by the student in question.

“So that doesn’t make it any less concerning when you consider the climate in this country and the concern we have with all the senseless violence we have in this country,” Gardner added.

Gardner said Penn State police, State College police and even the police in the student’s home state of New Jersey are “well-aware” of the “incident.” Gardner never directly mentioned the student’s name, Avi Rachlin, or his home state — but Rachlin has previously spoken publicly about some related allegations, and the concerned community member May 31 also used Rachlin’s name.

“As I stated earlier, we will continue to monitor this situation and make sure we know this individual’s whereabouts at all times,” Gardner said. “He has denied any involvement with this particular posting. So that’s basically what I can share with you. As of right now, this individual is not in State College. In fact, he’s in another state.”

It wasn’t immediately known what specific poster Gardner was referring to. But other posters and handouts have sprung up around campus, with similar social media postings highlighted.

On Twitter, an account with the same username that Rachlin has used elsewhere responded to the 2018 Stoneman Douglas school shooting, which saw 17 people murdered, with the tweet, “Mission failed, we’ll get em next time. (He only killed 17).” On Reddit, in response to a news story on the white population declining, an account with the same username responded, “No bueno. Whites must remain dominant.” And, in another Reddit post, the same account responded to a theoretical question about what one would do if there were no consequences for 24 hours with, “To start, I’d rape a bunch of really hot girls.”

Rachlin also applied for a firearms purchaser-identification card in New Jersey but was denied when his hometown police chief expressed “serious concerns.” A petition to expel Rachlin has reached more than 1,400 signatures.

In a brief phone conversation Thursday with the CDT, Rachlin intimated much of the reaction to his past statements has been overblown.

“The reality is that everything in that Medium post — everything that was said — was said prior to me stepping foot in State College, to my recollection,” he said. “And as the police chief said and as I’ve known, it’s been reviewed by Penn State police, State College police, Behavioral Threat Management Team, administration. Any alphabet agency at the college or government has probably reviewed all of this, especially in today’s climate, and they have all come back and said, ‘There’s nothing. It’s a nothing-burger. The reality is that we don’t feel he’s a threat; he hasn’t done anything wrong.’

“And I know that is the correct decision because, when you look at everything in the context of what was said, it was not what these people are stating it is. Most of these were in response to hypothetical scenario Reddit posts, which were soliciting hypothetical extreme answers. And I believe that people are deliberately misleading it to try to scare people who don’t know the full context.”

Rachlin, who previously implied he planned to graduate this fall, emphasized that he had “zero issues” this past academic year — no disciplinary measures, arrests or charges. He found it “concerning” that State College police wanted to know his future whereabouts, and he blamed some Baker supporters for what he termed “harassment.”

“I would hope that this is kind of it as far as the harassment campaign against me, now that they have their professor back,” he added. “But I guess we’ll have to see when the fall comes. But I’m certainly not optimistic about it. I think that the abuse will continue.”

According to Gardner, State College’s detective lieutenant is keeping in close contact with Penn State police.

Classes for Penn State’s fall semester start Aug. 22.