Jonathan Zou, a University of Michigan student, is facing a ban from all campuses except for attending classes or seeking medical care after using a megaphone during a pro-Palestinian march. The ACLU is representing Zou and four other individuals facing similar bans, arguing that the university violated their right to free speech and abused its authority.
Jonathan Zou, a second-year student at the University of Michigan, was among the thousands of students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses nationwide last year. Although the campus protests have since subsided, Zou and other students involved face lasting consequences.
Since his arrest by university police on October 7, 2023, following the use of a megaphone during a pro-Palestinian march, Zou has been banned from all University of Michigan campuses except for attending class or seeking medical care. Zou is one of five individuals, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), facing similar bans. They are at the center of a lawsuit accusing the University of Michigan of violating their right to free speech and abusing its authority to ban people from public property. The lawsuit, filed Monday by the ACLU in federal court, alleges that the university, while acknowledging a history of activism, has resorted to arresting, banning, surveilling, and repressing students through legal and disciplinary means. Zou expressed his frustration, stating that the university claimed to appreciate activism but simultaneously took such aggressive actions against those expressing their views. In response to a request for comment, a University of Michigan spokesperson stated that the university had not been served with the lawsuit and declined to provide any further comment at this time.Pro-Palestinian demonstrations swept across college campuses last spring, with activists setting up tent encampments and, in some cases, escalating their protests. Thousands were arrested; while many had their cases dismissed, others remain in legal limbo as they continue their education. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order calling for aggressive action against antisemitism on college campuses, promising to prosecute offenders and revoke visas for international students deemed “Hamas sympathizers.” Michigan has been particularly affected by tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict, with metro Detroit housing the nation’s largest Arab American community and a significant Jewish population. These dynamics have fueled unrest on University of Michigan campuses, resulting in police clashes with protesters and demonstrations targeting university regents. Last week, the University of Michigan suspended a pro-Palestinian group for two years and revoked its funding after accusing the group of violating the university’s standards of conduct.The ACLU lawsuit was filed on behalf of Zou, one other current student, two recent graduates, and an Ann Arbor community member. According to the lawsuit, each individual was issued a trespass ban after being accused of misconduct during protests but never formally charged. Zou was participating in a march on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus commemorating the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the hostage-taking of 250. The 2023 attack sparked a war that has devastated the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Zou was arrested for using a megaphone during the march but was never formally charged. The trespass bans have significantly disrupted the lives of these individuals, interfering with their education, work, and freedom of speech and protest on the University’s vast campus. They are seeking a federal court order to lift the bans and prevent the university from issuing such broad trespassing bans in the future. While a ceasefire took effect last month between Hamas and Israel, leading to hostage-for-prisoner swaps and aid flooding into the Gaza Strip after a 15-month ground war marked by devastation, hunger, and mass displacement, the possibility of renewed fighting looms if the ceasefire collapses after its six-week initial phase.
FREESPEECH UNIVERSITY PROTEST TRESPASS BAN HAMAS ISRAEL ACLU STUDENT MICHIGAN
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