Four current and former students at the University of Texas–Austin are suing the university and the state over their arrests and disciplinary actions stemming from pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges violations of the students’ First Amendment rights when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, with the approval of UT Austin President Jay Hartzell, called in state police to dismantle a protest encampment in April 2024.
More than 130 protesters were arrested during the demonstrations, which were part of a nationwide wave of campus protests opposing Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by the Hamas terrorist group….