Hunter College Professor Receives Hate Mail Following Ivanka Trump Conflict

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A Hunter College professor who was kicked off a plane when his husband accosted Ivanka Trump was sent two letters containing anti-gay statements and a mysterious substance at his Upper East Side office, police told Patch.

Matthew Lasner, a professor of urban affairs and planning, told police that the threatening letters were delivered Wednesday to his office on Park Avenue and East 68th Street, police said. One of the letters contained a white powder, deemed safe by Hazmat and sent to the lab for more testing, and the other letter contained anti-gay threats, police told Patch.

The New York Post reported that one of the letters also contained traces of feces and that the statements included threats such as “Next time you and your f*g husband die,” but police did not confirm those details with Patch.

Lasner did not immediately respond to a message left by Patch.

Lasner was escorted off a JetBlue flight at JFK because of his husband's angry reaction after finding out Ivanka Trump and her family were on their flight to San Francisco (flying in what appears to be coach seating). Lasner, also the author of "Affordable Housing in New York," documented the conflict in a now-deleted series of tweets, at one point using #banalityofevil to describe the Trump-Kushner clan.

Witnesses from the plane offered conflicting accounts of what actually happened. One person told TMZ that Lasner's husband said, "Your father is ruining the country," and asked out loud: "Why is she on our flight? She should be flying private." The report, in TMZ fashion, painted a dramatic account with an "unruly passenger" going on a "tirade."

Another one of the plane's passengers (sitting a row in front of Trump) described that the encounter was being "sensationalized" in a Facebook post. The passenger said that Lasner's husband did not yell, but "he was also not what I would describe as calm."

Following Lasner's dispute with Trump, self-proclaimed "Right Wing Millennials" created a petition calling on Hunter College to fire Lasner. As of this writing more than 61,000 people have signed the petition.

The petition states:

Matt Lasner's conduct is a direct representation of Hunter College. We believe his immature and cruel harassment of Ivanka Trump and her family at JFK airport should be met with disciplinary action. The fact that someone who would be involved in such conduct is teaching students is very troubling. We are petitioning that Hunter College take ACTION. Someone like Mr. Lasner, who would harass a mother and her child simply trying to go about their day, does not deserve the honor of teaching. The fact that he tried to cover up and change the story around to avoid the consequences of his actions is also a testament to his character. He is NOT a good example for our youth.

The NYPD's hate crime task force is investigating the threatening mail sent to Lasner's office, police told Patch.

Photo by Rick Uldricks/Patch