A former director of business development at K&L Gates is facing a criminal complaint in Massachusetts stemming from alleged threats he made to a university professor who had expressed disdain for President Donald Trump and his voters.

The event took place in September 2017, when Matthew Prinn, who at the time was working for the global legal giant in Boston, allegedly left a threatening voicemail for a professor at Bridgewater State University outside the city.

Prinn's profile on professional networking website LinkedIn states that he stopped working at K&L Gates in January. He joined the firm in 2006 after serving as a business development specialist at Robinson & Cole and Goulston & Storrs, according to his LinkedIn profile. A K&L Gates spokesman did not return a message with questions about Prinn's employment.

Prinn is facing a June court date in a suburban Boston courthouse to answer a charge of threatening to commit a crime. A phone number linked to him in police records was not answered and did not have its voicemail set up.

The episode was sparked after Garrett Nichols, an assistant professor at Bridgewater State University, posted a series of Facebook posts criticizing Trump and his voters. One post, for instance, read: "Fuck ANYONE who voted for Donald Trump." Another, linking to a photo of a Ku Klux Klan rally, said, "Trump voters, you all belong in this parade."

Conservative students on campus publicized the posts, saying they felt Nichols would grade them unfairly. The posts became fodder for conservative websites that purport to shine a light on liberal bias on college campuses.

Nichols, who specializes in rhetoric and composition, queer studies and native studies, received a number of threats after his phone number and address were made public in response to his posts, according to a police report.

One threat came in the form of a voicemail that said, "What's up you fucking piece of shit, Trump-hating bitch? Think you're a fucking tough guy? Let's see how tough you are. I'm coming looking for you."

A Bridgewater State police officer was sent to investigate and determined that the phone call came from a number registered to Prinn. Nichols told the officer he was "extremely concerned" the voicemail would lead to "imminent bodily harm," leading to the charges against Prinn, whose name has appeared on K&L Gates marketing materials. (Prinn also once served as president of the Legal Marketing Association's New England chapter.)

Nichols was put on temporary paid leave in the wake of the threats to protect his safety, according to news reports. A phone number for Nichols went unanswered and did not have its voicemail set up.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the charge against Prinn.