Four UT-Austin students arrested during 2024’s anti-Israel “protests” have sued the university and Gov. Greg Abbott in federal court, alleging the university violated their First Amendment rights.
According to KUT, the plaintiffs are represented by the Muslim Legal Fund of America and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The lawsuit, which also names the University of Texas Board of Regents and former university President Jay Hartzell as co-defendants, claims the students were targeted for expressing pro-Palestinian speech.
The students claim to fear retaliation from the university if they were to continue their activism.
In addition, plaintiffs claimed they suffered undisclosed injuries and trauma from “violent police tactics.”
Many protests had already occurred on all sides of the war in Gaza, but the events of April 2024 were a marked escalation from previous demonstrations.
At issue were attempts to establish Columbia University-style tent encampments on campus. State lawmakers made this illegal in a 2021 measure originally designed to counter homeless camping.
The creation of tent encampments as a means to “occupy” the campus was a stated goal of the organizers for April 24.
Texas Scorecard covered subsequent protests on April 29. Participants cursed out police officers, called them Nazis, spat on them, and threw water bottles. Despite the difficult circumstances, officers were universally calm and professional.
When asked by KUT, the Department of Public Safety declined to comment on pending litigation. UT-Austin referred readers back to a series of statements it made at the time, which argued that the university’s response to these events was not due to the content of the political speech involved.
Texas Scorecard reached out to DPS and UT-Austin and did not receive a response before publication.
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
