RALEIGH, N.C. - The ACLU of North Carolina, Emancipate NC and Muslim Advocates have filed a lawsuit challenging the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s ongoing punishment of certain individuals involved in the nondisruptive, pro-Palestine encampment on campus last spring.
On April 26, 2024, UNC students and non-students established the encampment to bring awareness to the genocide perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza. At around 5:30AM on April 30, 2024, UNC administrators told some encampment participants that they had less than 30 minutes to disperse or face arrest. Law enforcement then forcibly cleared the encampment and violently arrested the students and non-students on site, kicking the cane out from under one visibly disabled protestor, causing her to tear her rotator cuff. Arrested students were, without any form of due process, immediately suspended from classes and issued trespass bans from campus. Arrested non-students were charged with criminal trespass and, without any form of due process, immediately issued lifetime bans from campus.
This lawsuit alleges that these actions violate the rights to free speech, due process, and the right to be free from excessive force by law enforcement.
Ivy Johnson, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of NC, issued the following statement:
“The right to protest and speak freely is a fundamental pillar of our democracy and is especially important on university campuses, which often serve as social, cultural, and community gathering spaces for members of the public. Universities are and must be testing grounds for sharing, challenging, and defending the ideas that help shape a healthier democracy. These actions by UNC administrators run counter to the missions of higher education and the deep-rooted protections of the First Amendment.”
Jaelyn Miller, Staff Attorney for Emancipate NC, issued the following statement:
"UNC's actions are part of a larger trend in this country towards fascism and suppression of dissent. Despite Carrboro and Chapel Hill police emphatically rejecting UNC’s request, police departments all over the State, including as far away Boone, eagerly showed up to engage in violent, excessive force against individuals who were peaceful and committing no crime."
Reem Subei, Senior Staff Attorney for Muslim Advocates, issued the following statement:
“UNC’s punitive response to the April 2024 encampment on its campus far outweighs its response to past protests involving other viewpoints. This is part of a national trend of state repression against the student movement for Palestine. Whether it’s through academic disciplinary action, arrest and criminalization, or deportation, universities and law-enforcement agencies are trying to silence speech for Palestinian lives and freedom. And this is coming at a cost not only to brave protesters but to everyone’s right to dissent against government harm. It contradicts the First Amendment and must be stopped.”
This suit follows delivery of a letter written by the ACLU of NC, Palestine Legal, Emancipate NC and the National Lawyers Guild urging UNC administrators to cease prosecution and disciplinary action against protesters. We are asking the Court to declare that UNC's actions are unconstitutional and order UNC to reinstate our plaintiffs' access to campus.
You can review the lawsuit below.