An officer questioned the legality of arresting peaceful student protesters at the University of Texas Pro-Palestine demonstration, audio provided from human-body camera video Rolling stones show.
The recording is part of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's federal lawsuit, which was filed last week, alleging students faced unlawful mass arrests, physical intimidation, and relative discipline related to a pro-Palestine action on April 24, 2024. The complaint alleges that Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) and UT Austin officials suppressed pro-Palestine speech in violation of the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and Article 6 of the Civil Rights Act.
These arrests are just one of many instances where college students are punished for participating in pro-Palestinian protests, as thousands of students across the country have been arrested, suspended and put their futures in danger. Donald Trump's administration has actively targeted foreign student activists to remove them — including Columbia University's pro-super student activist Mahmoud Khalil and green card holders who were detained in March by immigration and customs enforcement.
The recordings and litigation provide new insights on how some of these crackdowns are going.
According to complaints against UT Austin and Abbott, involving four current students and recent graduates, police tangled the students and tied them so tightly around their wrists that it caused bruises and a nerve compression injury. Some students were forcibly arrested while trying to comply with police orders. A policeman faces the student, putting his knees around her neck. Students said they also heard officials talking about arrest quotas. A policeman removed a student's hijab while he was arrested and a student was joked after being arrested.
The allegations against students were dropped for lack of possible reasons, but their lawyers said they face retaliatory disciplinary measures from the school, including campus bans, administrative possession and threats of suspension. According to the lawsuit, they experienced "harm, trauma, and long-term academic and professional consequences."
“These students were arbitrarily chosen to cope and be violently cruel and punished simply because Governor Abbott decided to turn this campus into a war zone because he didn’t like the message,” human rights lawyer Maria Kari, co-lawyer in the case, told the case. Rolling stones.
In audio, the U.S. Arab Anti-Discrimination Commission provides Rolling stonesan official asked the student what he did wrong.
"We've been asking this question, but what are they doing now?" a Texas Public Safety Department asked.
"What?" asked another DPS official.
“What are they doing now illegal? The first officer asked.
"No," the second officer replied.
"Well, let's shit or get out of the car," said a third official.
"We're going to do this so they won't be excited," the fourth official said.
"Which one are we going?" said the third officer. "I have no idea."
"This video confirms that the students were not arrested for breaking the law. They were arrested for speaking in Gaza. Officials acknowledged that they did not know what was illegal there and that they were observing what was happening because as our dispatchers, it was a peaceful protest."
She called the recording "cold".
"Now, we have captured enforcement under the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott, admitting they have no reason but act anyway," she said. "So, when Texas and Utter Austin encounter their own officials questioning the legitimacy of their orders, they cannot claim ignorance."
The litigation group behind the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, saying the audio showed that the protest was peaceful and that the student was wrongly arrested.
Named in the lawsuit are Texas Governor Greg Abbott, UT Austin President Jay Hartzell, University of Texas Police Department officials and Texas Department of Public Safety officials. The joint attorneys in the lawsuit are the American Muslim Law Fund, Weber Law and the Taha Project.
United States-Arab Anti-Discrimination Commission is seeking a declarative judgment that officials violate the rights of plaintiffs; reverse disciplinary action; damage to physical, emotional and academic harm; and attorneys’ fees.
According to Protesters, “Protesters are trying to leverage their intention to occupy the campus.” Houston Chronicles. “People who are not affiliated with UT join their ranks, and many ignore the ongoing constraints of university officials and disperse immediately. What the university does, as we say, we do when faced with prohibited actions.”
United States - Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told Rolling stones The audio shows that the police are not threatened.
"To me, they knew it was peaceful. They conveyed that it was peaceful, and that's not something outside of ordinary people. If it wasn't outside of ordinary, why did it need such an extraordinary response?" He added: "That was that conversation...showed that these officials were looking at this (basically) saying, 'What the hell are we doing here? Guys...we can do other things now in our time.'"
Ayoub added that the arrests showed “the desire of leaders in UT Austin, the governor’s office and elsewhere to punish those who exercise First Amendment rights simply because they disagree with them.”
“That’s what leads to it,” Ayub said. “This shouldn’t happen.”