Professor Jason Arday has been remembered as the victim of a "public execution" at a vigil attended by thousands.
Lord Simon Woolley, his friend and peer, said at a vigil that Mr Arday had told him days before his death, "they’re hounding me to death."
Prof Arday resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education at Cambridge last week after accusations of plagiarism were made against him.
The 41-year-old, who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, was found dead in Battersea, south London, on Friday.
The vigil was held on Monday, on the steps of the National Gallery and attended by thousands of people.
Lord Woolley said: “This wonderful man. Never stole a bag of crisps. He was exonerated from plagiarism.
“But the dogs of hell, the hounds of hell, sought to pursue any inaccuracy that they could say Jason is a bad man, Jason doesn’t deserve to be in Cambridge.
“For them, Jason doesn’t deserve to be alive. There needs to be some reckoning. There needs to be some justice.”
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Dawn Butler, MP for Brent East, said: "We will not be defeated, will ensure that your memory will live on and the battle will go on."
Misan Harriman, an activist and photographer, said Mr Arday "should have been here today" and that "his legacy must be on of change and hope."
Downing Street declined to say "at this stage" whether Andy Burnham was considering an inquiry over the death of Jason Arday, arguing it was "right for us to let processes conclude" such as an inquest.
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