Yale Daily News

Timothy Snyder evacuated his “Hitler, Stalin, and Us” lecture on Thursday afternoon after a Communist activist group entered the classroom and would not leave.

Around 10 demonstrators affiliated with the Revolutionary Communist Party showed up at the classroom in William Harkness Hall five minutes after the start of class and began shouting at Snyder while holding up signs and recording students.

“It seemed like they just wanted to shout Professor Snyder down, not engage in any sort of discussion,” William Wang ’26, a student in the class, told the News. “After a few minutes of shouting it was clear they weren’t gonna go away. Eventually, we just left and went to another classroom.”

Snyder is a historian specializing in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and the Holocaust, and he has  been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine’s resistance effort since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. His class focuses on Nazi and Stalinist regimes in the mid-twentieth century.

The demonstrators walked into the back of class and held up signs while Raymond Lotta, the group’s leader, declared, “No class as usual today!” Lotta called on Snyder to condemn the United States for its support of Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza and accused him of “brainwashing” students with “anti-communism.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 250 people as hostages, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Israel responded to the attack with a declaration of war and full bombardment of Gaza. As of Feb. 29, Israel has killed more than 30,000 people in Gaza through its military onslaught, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The United States has sent over $3 billion in military aid to Israel each year for the last 10 years. 

“Timothy Snyder, your professor, is locking you into this oppressive system,” Lotta shouted, calling Israel’s action in Gaza a “genocide” and referring to “U.S. imperialism.” “He is brainwashing you with lies and slander about communism. The stakes could not be higher.”

Snyder attempted to usher the group out of the classroom, taking a phone away from one individual who was recording the event and saying, “You don’t have the right to film me.” 

Lotta continued to shout while other demonstrators stood in place and held signs such as “Where’s Snyder’s moral outrage over US backed genocide in GAZA?” and “Hitler killed 6 million Jews and Stalin saved 1.6 million Jews.”

After five minutes of shouting, students and Snyder began filing out of the classroom. Shortly after, Lotta and his group were escorted out of the building by Yale security.

Speaking to the News afterward, Lotta called the demonstration a “success.”

“This was meant to be a jolt,” Lotta said. “We wanted to be dramatic and stir students up. This is a challenge for Snyder to debate me on the past and future of the Communist revolution.”

According to Lotta, Yale security informed his group that they were trespassing and not permitted to return to Yale campus without authorization. They did not elaborate on what the consequences would be for a future infraction, Lotta said.

A University spokesperson wrote to the News on Thursday night that “the situation is still being investigated and reviewed.”

“The university takes the disruption of campus activities and student safety seriously and follows these guidelines regarding free expression and peaceable assembly,” referring to Yale’s Free Expression Policy.

Snyder was not available for immediate comment on the incident. 

In November, Lotta appeared at one of Snyder’s “The Making of Modern Ukraine” lectures, handing him an invitation to appear at a debate. The disturbance on Wednesday, Lotta said, had been planned a week in advance.

The lecture resumed in a separate classroom without further disturbance. 

Snyder is the author of several books on Eastern European history, including “Our Malady,” “On Tyranny,” “The Road to Unfreedom,” “Black Earth” and “Bloodlands.”