Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at University of Tennessee file First Amendment suit
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were arrested in 2024 on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus have filed a federal lawsuit saying their First Amendment rights were violated.
Siblings Hasan Husain and Layla Soliz filed their joint lawsuit May 15 on the one-year anniversary of their arrests. The lawsuit was filed against the Tennessee Board of Regents, University of Tennessee trustees and UT System President Randy Boyd.
The two were part of a group of 11 pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrested and charged with trespassing after attending a pro-Palestine vigil at UT.
Everyone faced the same single charge of criminal trespass and all were released without having to pay bail.
The lawsuit centers on what the two assert are First Amendment violations against 'nonviolent community members who were not violating any laws.' They said the arrests were meant to intimidate demonstrators.
'The First Amendment does not allow campus officials to establish free-expression-black-out hours of the day, even on occasions that may be emotional or politically polarizing,' the suit says.
First Amendment experts told Knox News last year that public officials can create reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on demonstrations that do not infringe on free speech as long as they are consistent and provide ample opportunities for expression
UT leaders reserved the Student Union lawn for demonstrators from 7 a.m.-10 p.m., aligning the hours with the building's hours of operation during the school year, and maintained consistency with the hours of operation when they changed allowed times for demonstrations to 7 a.m.-6 p.m. when the Student Union switched to its summer hours on May 15, 2024.
At about 8 p.m. May 15, 2024, demonstrators were warned to leave the lawn outside the College of Law by Allen Bolton, who was then UT's interim senior vice chancellor for finance and administration. He said demonstrators could move to the Student Union lawn, which was reserved for them.
Bolton told the activists to leave the lawn of the law school within 10 minutes. When that deadline passed, police started arresting them.
Courts have consistently upheld reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on demonstrations.
Soliz partially settled a separate federal lawsuit she filed over her arrest at UT.
In March, Soliz was awarded $71,500 by the Knox County Sheriff's Office after the department published online her mug shot without her hijab. Hijabs are worn by Muslim women for modesty and as a symbol of faith. They prevent men from outside a woman's family from seeing her hair.
Soliz is pushing for KCSO to amend policy so women no longer have to remove their head coverings for future mug shots.
Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Connect with Tyler by emailing him at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tyler_whetstone.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Protesters arrested at University of Tennessee file First Amendment lawsuit
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