The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Calls Our Texas Governor Greg Abbot for Arresting Protestors
The FIRE sent a letter to Jay Hartzell, president of the University of Texas at Austin, in response to the disturbing display of force and free speech violations that occurred on UT Austin’s campus yesterday afternoon.
A group called the Palestinian Solidarity Committee of Austin planned to stage a “Popular University for Gaza” walk-out just before noon on April 24. Their plan, which the committee announced the day before, was to march to the campus’ South Lawn, where teach-ins, study breaks, pizza, and an art workshop would take place along with a talk from a guest speaker.
However, at the request of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the university, the protestors were met with a phalanx of law enforcement officers — including campus police and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers — who proceeded to order the protestors to disperse. This led to more than 50 arrests and countless violations of student and faculty free speech rights — including a photojournalist with a local Fox affiliate station whom officers tackled to the ground before imposing trespassing charges.
The tension surrounding the event had been brewing for some time. On March 27, Gov. Abbott issued an executive order targeting anti-Semitism at state universities, dictating amendments to their speech policies to “address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses and establish appropriate punishments, including expulsion.”
Threatening expulsion for expression that some — or even many — may find offensive is a speech-chilling encroachment on students’ First Amendment rights. This is especially true when “anti-Semitism” is defined to target core political speech — such as criticism of Israel — which FIRE has warned Abbott’s order effectively does.
Abbott’s order also named student organizations specifically — including the Palestine Solidarity Committee — giving the distinct impression that the viewpoints these groups espouse are at the center of the governor’s crosshairs in particular.
https://www.thefire.org/news/texas-tramples-first-amendment-rights-police-crackdown-pro-palestinian-protests