After college students protested Israel-Hamas war, Texas Senate votes to restrict time, place and manner of future events
The Texas Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would restrict protesting on college campuses in reaction to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.
The bill's author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said he wants to prevent disruption and unsafe behavior, but opponents have said it contradicts the Legislature's previous commitment to campus free speech, championed by conservative lawmakers six years ago.
Senate Bill 2972 would give university systems' governing boards the power to limit where protests can take place on campus and more tools to police them. Lawmakers voted 21-10 to advance the bill without debate.
Under the legislation, students and staff would not be allowed to use microphones or any other device to amplify sound while protesting during class hours. The bill largely prohibits them from protesting at all overnight and during the last two weeks of a semester.
They'd also be barred from erecting encampments, taking down an institution's U.S. flag to put up another nation's or organization's and wearing masks, facial coverings or other disguises to avoid being identified while protesting or to intimidate others.
Finally, students and university employees at a protest would be required to present a valid ID when asked by law enforcement.
In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 18, which required colleges and universities to ensure that all outdoor common areas of campus were traditional public forums. This meant anyone could protest there as long as they weren't breaking the law or disrupting the function of the college or university. SB 18 also said any restrictions institutions placed on protesting had to be 'narrowly tailored to serve a significant institutional interest.'
SB 2972 would walk those provisions back, allowing governing boards to designate which areas on campus are traditional public forums and allowing them to restrict protests in these areas as long as it is 'reasonable in light of the purpose of the area.'
Cate Byrne, a third-year law student at the University of Texas at Austin, said during a Senate K-16 Education Hearing last month that because the bill doesn't define what is 'reasonable,' it could lead to administrators discriminating against protesters based on their viewpoint.
Other current and former UT-Austin students pointed out that some protesters must wear masks because they are immunocompromised and that this legislation would also impede conservative speech — which lawmakers sought to protect when they passed SB 18 in 2019. They pointed out that candlelight vigils for the unborn would not be allowed under this proposal because they would occur at night, for example.
'These restrictions create an impossible situation,' said Sameeha Rizvi, Texas policy and advocacy coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a UT-Austin graduate. 'Protest silently during the daytime or don't protest at all after hours. Whether students are advocating for human rights or religious freedom, all speech across the political spectrum will be constrained.'
Following Hama's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, students across the country demanded their universities divest from Israel or manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons in its strikes on Gaza. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Hillel International also reported a sharp uptick in antisemitic incidents on campus, which lawmakers vowed to address this session. When students protested at UT-Austin, administrators called in armed state troopers, who arrested more than a hundred people over several days.
Several colleges across the country have since imposed limits on protesting that clamped down on pro-Palestinian encampments.
The Indiana University board of trustees adopted a policy similar to the bill the Texas Legislature is considering that prohibits camping unless it is part of a university-approved event, protesting overnight and amplified noise that 'materially or substantially' disrupts university life.
The Trump administration has also demanded that Columbia and Harvard universities ban masks at campus protests. Columbia agreed.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers
CAIRO — A unit of Gaza's Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia after detaining them early Thursday. An Israel-supported aid group, however, said the dead were its aid workers, eight of whom were killed when Hamas attacked its bus. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. The deaths were the latest sign of turmoil surrounding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private contractor that Israel says will replace the U.N. in distributing food to Gaza's more than 2 million people. The past two weeks, dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded in near daily shootings as they try to reach GHF centers, with witnesses saying Israeli troops nearby have repeatedly opened fire. On Wednesday, at least 13 people were killed and 170 wounded when Israeli forces fired toward a crowd of Palestinians near a GHF center in central Gaza, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. The military said it fired warning shots overnight at a gathering that posed a threat, hundreds of meters (yards) from the aid site. Internet and phone lines, meanwhile, were down across Gaza, according to telecom provider Paltel and the Palestinian telecoms authority. They said a key line was severed during an Israeli operation and that the military would not allow technicians into the area to repair it. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said emergency services were cut off because of the outage, and civilians cannot call ambulances. It said most U.N. agencies and aid groups could not reach their staff on the ground. Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza, making it difficult to confirm what happened in the killings early Wednesday near the southern city of Khan Younis. GHF said Hamas attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen of its Palestinian aid workers, killing at least eight and wounding others. It said it feared some had been abducted. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others.' The Israeli military circulated GHF's statement but declined to provide its own account of what happened. Rev. Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical advisor to President Trump who was recently appointed head of GHF, called the killings 'absolute evil.' The U.N.'s OCHA said it could not confirm the circumstances of the killings but said 'civilians must never be attacked, let alone those trying to access or provide food amid mass starvation.' GHF says its staff at the centers include unarmed Palestinian employees. Much of the staff are armed international contractors, mainly Americans, guarding the centers. The Abu Shabab group fighters are deployed inside the Israeli military zones that surround the GHF centers, according to witnesses. Earlier this week, witnesses said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. GHF says it does not work with the Abu Shabab group. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians opposed to Hamas. Hamas has rejected the GHF system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. The Sahm police unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting, released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them. Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident who was at the scene, said a crowd celebrated the killings, shouting 'God is greatest' and condemning those killed as traitors. Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group and a major in the Palestinian Authority's security forces, issued a statement saying Abu Shabab fighters had clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the bodies in Sahm's images were the group's fighters. The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group. But many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers. Aid workers say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's renewed military campaign and its two-and-a-half-month ban on imports of food, fuel and medicine to Gaza, which was slightly eased in mid-May. OCHA warned that fuel 'may very soon run out' at 67 of the 85 remaining partially functioning hospitals and health care centers in Gaza, meaning vital equipment would go dead. Despite the easing of the blockade, Israel has still not allowed fuel to enter. OCHA said the military gave it permission to retrieve fuel stored in northern Gaza after weeks of denials, but the team sent Wednesday had to turn back because of Israeli shelling in the area. The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the GHF distribution system. They say it is unable to meet Gaza's needs and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to enact its military objectives, including plans to move Gaza's entire population to southern Gaza near the GHF hubs. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza. Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system. U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas. The Israeli military on Thursday released what it said were seized Hamas documents showing it takes aid. One document, apparently showing minutes from a meeting last year, included an item saying the Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, had previously taken 25% of the aid but had agreed to settle for 7%, with 4% going to the Hamas-run government and 4% to the political movement. It did not specify the source or quantity of the aid. Israel did not release the entire document. The documents also detailed Hamas' efforts to keep traders from hoarding goods and charging inflated prices for them. One of them appeared to acknowledge that some such traders had links to Hamas. The Associated Press could not confirm the documents' authenticity. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Magdy and Chehayeb write for the Associated Press. Chehayeb reported from Beirut. AP writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Palestinian humanitarians detained at SFO Wednesday
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Palestinian humanitarian activists are being held at the San Francisco International Airport after not being allowed into the Bay Area, where they were invited to speak, San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood said Wednesday. Mahmood is calling for the immediate release of the two humanitarian activists after he said no reason was given to them by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers as to why their visas were being revoked. The two men have allegedly been held at the airport since 1 p.m. Wednesday. A protest organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations calling for their release is planned for 8:30 a.m. Thursday at SFO's Terminal G. Current U.S. policy allows for Palestinians to enter the U.S. if they have a valid B-1 or B-2 visa. They are allowed to stay up to six months on business or as tourists, according to the U.S. Department of State. 'One of them had testified before Congress previously,' Mahmood wrote on X. 'This injustice must be corrected. We are urging the federal government to reverse their decision ASAP.' The activists were invited by local faith communities to the Bay Area and were set to speak at the Kehilla Community Synagogue as well as the Buena Vista and Los Altos United Methodist Churches. CBP told Mahmood that the two men would be sent back on a flight to the Middle East, according to the supervisor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Newsweek
American Sympathy for Israel Reaches 'All-Time Low' in New Poll
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. American sympathy for Israel reached an "all-time low" in the latest Quinnipiac University poll released this week. Newsweek reached out to Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry for comment via email. Why It Matters The U.S. has been a key ally to Israel for decades, but polls suggest an increasing number of Americans are questioning that relationship amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. On October 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack against Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 251 people. Israel has said 58 hostages remain in Gaza, and Trump has said 21 remain alive. Israel has since launched an offensive on Gaza, killing more than 54,000 people, according to The Associated Press, citing Gaza's Health Ministry. Critics have sounded the alarm on Israel's military operation, raising concerns about the number of civilians killed or displaced, as well as conditions such as the threat of starvation on the Gaza Strip. The poll also comes as tensions heat up between Israel and Iran amid concerns Israel could launch a strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities. Iran's government warned this week such action would be met with an "unprecedented response." What to Know Although sympathies are shifting, more Americans are still sympathetic to Israel—37 percent—than the Palestinians—32 percent—according to the Quinnipiac poll, which surveyed 1,265 registered voters from June 5 to June 9, 2025 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Additionally, 31 percent were unsure which side they are feeling more sympathetic toward, according to the polling report. pro-Palestinian protesters rally in New York City on October 5, 2024. pro-Palestinian protesters rally in New York City on October 5, 2024."This is an all-time low for the Israelis and an all-time high for the Palestinians since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question of registered voters in December 2001," reads the polling report. Israeli sympathy reached a high mark on October 17, 2023—less than two weeks after the Hamas attack on the Israeli music festival. At that point, 61 percent of Americans were more sympathetic toward Israel, while 13 percent were more sympathetic toward Palestinians. The May, 2024, Quinnipiac poll found that 46 percent of Americans were more sympathetic with Israel, while 29 percent were more sympathetic toward Palestinians. The finding is not particularly surprising, Dina Smeltz, vice president of public opinion and foreign policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, told Newsweek on Thursday. "This has been building for some time, and this drop is driven by decreases in both Democratic supporters' opinion and Independent supporters' declining favorability toward Israel," she said. Smeltz noted that the polling doesn't necessarily mean Democrats and independents don't support the state of Israel—just that they do not support its current policies. These shifts may not mean much to the Trump administration, which appears to be "focused mostly on what its base wants," Smeltz said, as Republicans are generally still supportive of Israel. However, it does pose a "serious challenge" to the Democratic Party, whose base is split between progressive and moderates who "don't always see this issue in the same way," she said. "You could see that in the struggles that the Biden administration had in addressing this issue before and during the last election," she said. The poll is in line with the council's latest data as well, with its latest survey finding Americans overall rate their feelings toward Israel on a scale of one to 100 as a 50—the lowest point since at least 1980. That poll surveyed 1,019 Americans from April 18 to April 20. A Gallup poll released in March also found the number of Americans who are sympathetic to Israel had dropped to its lowest point of 46 percent, compared to 33 percent who were sympathetic to the Palestinians. What People Are Saying Smeltz told Newsweek: "The people who should really be paying attention to these polls are the Israeli government officials and Israeli political leaders. Its policy toward the Palestinians, especially in the ongoing military action in Gaza, seems to have squandered a great deal of American support, especially among younger generations and nonwhite Americans. Israel's policies and the U.S. response to them will shape attitudes among budding politicians, experts and voters from these demographic groups in the near term and in future policymaking. Israel may not have an opportunity to improve its image once the war is over." Progressive commentator Mehdi Hasan responded to the poll on X (formerly Twitter), writing: "It only took 50,000+ dead Palestinians and the starvation of the entire Gaza Strip." In March, Gallup wrote: "Americans' sympathies with the Israelis continue to decline, largely because of Democrats' dwindling support for the Israelis in the long-standing conflict with the Palestinians. Republicans remain overwhelmingly sympathetic toward the Israelis." What Happens Next The situation between Israel and Iran remains tense ahead of nuclear talks this weekend in Oman. Americans' views of Israel may continue to be shaped over how the Middle East conflicts play out over the coming months.
