Posted on 02/05/2025 8:24:19 AM PST by Miami Rebel
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The ACLU says they've filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan after the school banned several people from its Ann Arbor campus due to their involvement in Pro-Palestinian protests.
This lawsuit comes just days after the University suspended "Students Allied for Freedom and Equality" for the next two years, a student organization that's been central in many of the pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
The plaintiffs include five people who the lawsuit claims have been banned from campus following their participation in pro-Palestinian protests. They claim the trespass bans are a violation of free speech.
One of the plaintiffs is a second-year student at Michigan, Jonathan Zhou. The ban was amended, allowing him to attend classes, but in a statement, he said, "I'm still forbidden from participating in protests and student organizing meetings, attending lectures and events, and meeting professors, classmates, and friends in person. I have a constitutional right to be on campus, go about my daily life and to participate in protests against the university. It's absurd that my university is getting in the way of exercising my rights by threatening me with criminal trespass prosecution."
While the lawsuit describes the trespass bans as "heavy-handed," some Jewish leaders on campus see it as a relief.
"I think the Jewish students were looking for the university to return the university to status quo, that people sit in class and they learn. That's what they're paying to be here for. They're not interested in being bombarded by people protesting and disrupting their learning. They're here to learn," Rabbi Yitz Pierce, with the Jewish Resource Center, said.
The lawsuit claims the university is unfairly targeting pro-Palestinian protesters while also claiming that "no other group of protestors have been subjected to similarly broad trespass bans for the same or similar alleged activity."
The university said they have not been served with a lawsuit yet and cannot comment.
CBS Detroit reached out to SAFE and has not yet received a response. SAFE also called a meeting for Tuesday night to discuss their response to what they call the University's repression of pro-Palestinian speech and activism.
ACLU going after deep pockets looking for a payout.
Doing the bidding of Qatar terrorist money.
ACLU NEEDS to go away.
I will be angry forever that pro-Palestinian protesters closed down the Columbia campus when we were there last May for a graduation. We were not allowed on the campus at all - and the graduation was originally canceled - after we’d flown to New York. Fortunately, another venue was found at the last minute and the graduation was held in a field house.
We were infuriated that we were not allowed to tour the campus with my SIL (graduate of Columbia) b/c of these political idiots, it made us hate their cause even more. We checked every day, even went to the campus - and were stopped. I told my SIL and our recent graduate to stop any/all donations until this is stopped.
O kidding, especially since it’s founder stated the sole purpose of it was the destruction of our Republic. It is a communist organization that sometimes champions freedom only as camouflage.
Americans need to start suing the Anti-American Commie Liberal Union.
If these people are US citizens, have a permit and are not violent I see no problem.
Absolutely. Citizens should have the right to peacefully protest. The campus seizures went far beyond that, though.
Agreed. That is crossing the line.
I suspect the banned people have been arrested before for crimes committed when they went beyond protesting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.