Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is facing accusations of state overreach after Texas police arrested more than 50 people at a protest at the University of Texas at Austin this week.
On Wednesday, police in riot gear broke up an unauthorized but nonviolent demonstration at the state’s flagship university.
Among those arrested was a journalist from local news outlet FOX 7. He has been indicted for trespassing.
Demonstrators are planning a second day of protests on Thursday.
The students had called on the University of Tokyo to divest from arms manufacturers and American and Israeli companies profiting from the Gaza war.University donations have an estimated amount Invested $52.5 million with weapons manufacturers.
Students and off-campus supporters began gathering around noon to participate in protests that the university had prohibited from holding. They said, “Free, free Palestine. Killing children is a crime.” texas public radio.
Jews on campus were divided over whether this constituted an offensive act.
Texas Hillel, the Jewish student union, called the protests “hateful,” noting that they took place on the second day of Passover, the Jewish festival of freedom.
Others disagreed. “They’re not shouting anti-Semitic things, they’re not harassing anyone. They’re standing on the green grass and expressing themselves.” told the Texas Tribune.
“The appropriate response is to confine them to a certain area and make them stay on the grass and scream until they can no longer hear,” Suri added.
Instead, Mr. Abbott called state troopers.
In a Tuesday post on social platform X, Abbott declared the protests anti-Semitic and called on the university to expel students who took part. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has made curbing allegations of anti-Semitism on campuses a key priority for next year’s legislative session.
“Today, Greg Abbott’s [Department of Public Safety] “We have more courage to arrest peaceful student protesters than we did when a gunman entered an elementary school in Uvalde.” wrote in a statement Wednesday evening.
The party called the crackdown a “campaign ad” for Abbott.
A Democratic state lawmaker from Austin called the response “out of control.”
“When I was a student, we usually held sit-ins.” [with Rev. Jesse Jackson] The actual UT law school and administration ignored us,” state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) wrote about X.
UT faculty issued a statement He criticized university president Jay Hartzl’s decision to call the police.
Administrators said the event “was scheduled to include teach-ins, study sessions, pizza and art workshops.” There were no threats of violence, no plans to disrupt classes, and no threats to the campus community. ”
In response, they “witnessed police beating female students, knocking down legal monitors, dragging students over chain-link fences, and violently arresting students simply for standing in front of a crowd.” I wrote.
Local journalists condemned the Fox cameraman’s arrest.
KXAN’s Ryan Chandler said, “If he’s guilty of trespassing, then so am I. So are the credentialed 24-hour journalists who were peacefully recording on the public lawn.” . I wrote to X.
Similar criticism came from liberal and right-wing groups who had previously supported Mr. Abbott’s campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that the state government called anti-free speech. It was sent.
Will Creeley, legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), said, “Sending in law enforcement forces is an important step in the right place where speech should be most free: at public universities like the University of Texas at Austin.” , it threatens protected speech.” Written after arrest,
FIRE, a longtime critic of DEI, said Abbott’s use of police to quell protests “clearly shows a disregard for First Amendment protections for political speech.”
The crackdown follows Mr. Abbott’s controversial executive order in March that critics said rolled back broad free speech protections he signed into law in 2019. It was conducted.
In March, the governor signed an executive order directing universities to change their free speech policies to appropriately punish “anti-Semitic” speech. This is the category that state Republican leaders apply to criticizing the war in Gaza.
Chris Rufo, a right-wing activist at the Manhattan Institute, said: “I am committed to combating anti-Semitism on campuses, but I am concerned about the provisions highlighted in Governor Abbott’s executive order.” said Chris Rufo, a right-wing activist at the Manhattan Institute who has long been a critic of DEI, safe spaces, and environmental protection. Pro-Palestinian campus protests, I wrote it at the time.
“How would such a policy differ from a DEI program that is committed to prohibiting ‘anti-Black speech’? Why not include ‘white speech’?” Rufo asked.
Reporters for the far-right magazine The Federalist said Mr. Abbott’s March executive order “DEI Cult” In “The Jewish Demand for a Safe Place.”
Muslim students told reporters that the university was not protecting them from abuse and assault on campus.
Earlier this month, three men assaulted a Muslim student wearing traditional costume, taunting him with “fake Arabic”. According to the complaint Submitted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
For years, Texas Republican leaders have combined tenacious support for Israel’s right-wing government with a more complex relationship with the state’s far-right anti-Semitic groups.
Last year, a major state PAC affiliated with Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) changed hands. Fired that name and that director. After footage leaked of him meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes, an ardent fan of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and supporter of a “holy war” against Jews.
As The Hill reported, after the video came to light, Republican members of Congress who had received donations from the PAC in the state Legislature countered criticism and calls for donations by expressing support for Israel. did.
Mr. Patrick had received $3 million from a PAC aimed at impeaching Mr. Paxton, an ally of Mr. Patrick, in 2023.
In the face of criticism over the donation, Mr. Patrick announced that it would be used to buy Israeli bonds.
In December, the state Republican Committee announced that its members would continue to be allowed to meet with groups “known for supporting or condoning anti-Semitism, pro-Nazi sympathies, or Holocaust denial” from pro-Israel statements. It passed 39-32. according to Texas Tribune.
Half of the board also voted to keep no record of that vote.
In voting down a bill that would have restricted such meetings, members expressed concerns about free speech. Members said the ban on such meetings was reminiscent of “Marxist” tactics.
Banning them “could be a slippery slope,” Commissioner Dan Talley told the Tribune.
Following Tuesday’s arrest, a local journalist with the left-wing Texas Observer newspaper criticized the apparent contradiction between the state’s broader response to anti-Semitic speech and its crackdown on university protests.
“I have not seen any reliable reporting on actual anti-Semitic incidents at the UT Austin protests” Steven Monacelli I wrote to X.
“What I can tell you is that I’ve covered a lot of neo-Nazi cases, and Greg Abbott has never tried to put any of them behind bars.”
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