Lawsuit claims University of Michigan violated protesters' constitutional rights
DETROIT — Five people, including two students, are suing the University of Michigan claiming it violated their constitutional rights by effectively banning them from campus after they attended pro-Palestine demonstrations.
In a federal lawsuit filed this week, the plaintiffs said the school trampled their free speech and due process rights by issuing overly broad trespassing tickets – which they say effectively bans them from campus – without providing evidence of wrongdoing.
The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, are asking the judge to issue an injunction to overturn the bans and stop the university from issuing similar bans in the future.
“This isn't just about the protests that have happened on campus over the course of this year, this is about protests that are to come,” said Loren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. "We're sort of in a heightened moment. To have folks banned so fulsomely from campus just for engaging in protest, is such a violation of our most fundamental Constitutional rights that underlie a democratic society."
The Detroit Free Press, part of the Paste BN Network, reached out to the university for comment.
Monday's lawsuit is the latest filed against the university, which has been the site of numerous protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict. In December, another group of students sued, claiming the school selectively targeted peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstrators for their beliefs, subjecting them to disciplinary proceedings and suspensions.
The University of Michigan was one of nearly 150 schools across 35 states to be among a wave of demonstrations last year against the war in Gaza, according to an analysis by the Bridging Divides Initiative. The wave of anti-war protests began at Columbia University on April 17, 2024, and similar demonstrations cropped up across the nation within weeks.
Civil rights advocates have decried forceful police response to student demonstrations, which included mass arrests and the use of tear gas, tasers, and rubber bullets.
Student says he was banned from going to class after protesting
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, is Jonathan Zou, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering.
He said he had been protesting because he considers the Israeli response to the 2023 attacks by Hamas to be genocide. Zou also considers the University of Michigan to be complicit, because the school’s endowment fund invests in companies tied to Israel.
The lawsuit says that on Oct. 7, 2024, Zou was taking part in a protest on campus, using a megaphone to lead the crowd in chants. A police officer told him to stop using the megaphone, which he did briefly before resuming.
That’s when, Zou said, he was tackled from behind, stood up against a tree, and handcuffed. He said he lost a shoe in the process and was put in the back of a police car for a ride to the police headquarters, where he was photographed, booked, and released.
"The police officer that made the arrest kept telling me, 'You're in big trouble, now. You might be charged with a bunch of things,'" Zou said.
Zou said he found the officer's comment ironic because he has yet to be charged with anything. The trespassing ticket, labeled as a warning, said he committed or was suspected of committing a crime on university property, but it didn't elaborate.
It also informed him that “any future entry into the following areas will subject you to arrest for trespassing.” A box was checked listing the Ann Arbor campus and a handwritten note said: “Only to class," according to the lawsuit.
Zou lives in an off-campus apartment. The lawsuit says the day after the arrest, Zou received an email from University of Michigan Deputy Police Chief Paul DeRidder, informing him that his trespass ban had been extended to cover not only the Ann Arbor campus but also the school's Dearborn and Flint campuses.
“You cannot attend class in person,” the email said, according to the lawsuit.
Zou said his professors have been accommodating but that not being able to attend class in person has caused his coursework to suffer. He appealed the ticket but said the process was pointless.
Zou and his attorney at the time, along with a professor who had come to provide support, were given a meeting with campus Police Chief Crystal James to discuss the ticket. Zou said he was never told what he did wrong and police never presented any evidence against him.
"They made it very clear to me that the purpose of this appeal hearing is only for me to explain why I think I should not be banned," Zou said, adding it felt like an "invitation to incriminate."
A second appeal went to Eddie Washington, the executive director of the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security. The result was the same, Zou said.
Suit: 'Trespass bans seems to be disproportionately targeted'
The other plaintiffs in the suit are Oliver Kozler, a senior who works as assistant general manager of the college radio station; Alice Elliott, a 2018 master’s graduate who now lives in Ypsilanti and is an emergency medical technician; Christian Grant, of Ypsilanti, who delivers DoorDash meals on campus; and Gabriel Vieira, a 2024 master’s graduate who lives in Ann Arbor.
The suit claims the pro-Palestine protesters have been treated worse than other protesters.
"The University’s use of trespass bans seems to be disproportionately targeted at these particular protesters, whose speech the University dislikes," the suit said. "Despite a long history of protest activity regarding countless issues at the University of Michigan, which has sometimes included acts of civil disobedience, it appears that no other group of protestors have been subjected to similarly broad trespass bans for the same or similar alleged activity."
Read the lawsuit
Contact John Wisely: jwisely@freepress.com. On X: @jwisely