University of Texas students sue over arrests at pro-Palestinian protest against war in Gaza

Four current and former University of Texas at Austin students have sued the college and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, alleging they faced unlawful arrest and retaliatory discipline for demonstrating against Israel’s assault on Gaza.

The lawsuit is among a wave of legal actions against US universities, law enforcement and state leaders over their handling of pro-Palestinian student protests that erupted in the spring of 2024.

Filed in US District Court in San Antonio by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) on behalf of the students, the lawsuit accuses UT Austin President Jay Hartzell, Abbott and law enforcement officers of intentionally suppressing pro-Palestinian speech at an April 24, 2024 campus protest.

According to the filing, Abbott, with the consent of Hartzell, ordered state police in riot gear to carry out mass arrests, violating protesters’ First Amendment rights to assemble and express their opinions.


_{Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, US}

That's still Biden's fallout.

Chaos in press briefing; angry AP reporter walks out; another reporter threatened

Thursday saw utter chaos at the State Department press briefing when spokesperson Tammy Bruce was seen threatening Palestinian journalist Said Arikat he insisted being allowed to ask a question on Gaza. Another veteran journalist, Matt Lee from Associated Press, walked out of the press briefing after Bruce repeatedly ignored his request to ask a question.

‘New Media’ Is A Complete Disgrace

Trump Plans Record $1.01 Trillion National Security Budget

Huh, what happened to cutting it? 

A ‘political prisoner’: US advocates rally for detained Georgetown scholar

Dozens of activists chanted “Free him now. Free him now”, as lawyers argued over the case of Badar Khan Suri, who has been detained by the US government over his support for Palestinian rights.

Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, was arrested in March as part of US President Donald Trump’s campaign to punish and deport non-citizens accused of fuelling pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses.

After his arrest in Virginia, immigration officials quickly moved Khan Suri from a local detention centre to one in Louisiana and then in Texas. On Thursday, his lawyers argued for the scholar to be moved back to his home state of Virginia, where his case is currently unfolding.

Ultimately, Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles demanded answers from authorities about why Khan Suri was moved so swiftly out of Virginia. She gave the government’s lawyers 24 hours to respond.


_{Mapheze Saleh, Badar Khan Suri’s wife, speaks outside the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 1}

Trump says he will remove Harvard’s tax-exempt status

US President Donald Trump has said he plans to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, the latest salvo against the Ivy League school amid a pattern of broader action against top US universities over campus activism, including pro-Palestinian protests.

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, without specifying when he might take action.

Since taking office in January, Trump has targeted major US universities by freezing federal funding, launching investigations, revoking student visas and making other demands, saying higher education has been gripped by anti-Semitic, anti-American, Marxist, pro-Hamas and “radical left” ideologies.

The cuts are supposed to be elsewhere.

But, yeah, he's preaching peace but gets the war machine rolling...

Trump Admin Laying Groundwork For Unilateral U.S. Military Action Against Cartels In Mexico: Report

So good having an anti-war president.  

It's not war, it's just a Special Military Operation™

Trump voter slams president for his lackluster performance during his first 100 days in office

Bruh, he literally said:

And as you might’ve guessed, it was a fired Trump voter (in swing state Pennsylvania no less) saying this. Surprise, surprise! 

This perfectly sums up my reaction to all these “I voted for Trump, but I didn’t vote for ____”:

Yes, you DID vote for this. You only care because it’s affecting YOU and not (just) the people you voted to harm. Even the guy you voted to harm these colored, other-genitaled folk says you signed up for it.

They voted for Trump because they wanted him to harm people they dislike, but ONLY people they dislike. That's absolutely reprehensible thinking.

Exactly why they get no sympathy from me. These people complaining about getting laid off and/or paying more for goods and potentially losing their home in the process off only have room to talk if they didn’t vote for the guy who said he would impose these insane tariffs, which aren’t exactly a boon for business or your wallet. They didn’t vote for this mess, the other candidate’s voters did.