Students sue Case Western Reserve University President Eric Kaler and University police officers for spray-paint assault at pro-Palestine protest
Today, our firm filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of three student-protesters who were retaliated against by Case Western Reserve University President Eric Kaler and University Police for their expression of support for Palestinian civilians facing mass murder, brutal violence, and mass displacement as a result of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Like countless college campuses across the U.S. and worldwide, Case Western Reserve University’s campus erupted with protest activity in the wake of the Israeli government’s bombardment and siege of the Gaza following an October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian forces resisting Israel’s occupation.
Among other concerns, these protests were directed at U.S. institutional support for (1) Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate murder of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, including tens of thousands of children, as well as numerous journalists, medical professionals, and aid workers, who have been killed by Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza at a rate unprecedented in modern warfare; (2) Israel’s destruction of more than half of the buildings in Gaza, including critical civil infrastructure, creating a humanitarian crisis for the more than 2 million people confined by the Israeli government within Gaza’s narrow borders; and (3) the Israeli government’s express discrimination of Palestinians, who do not have equal rights under the law within Israel’s borders (including within the heavily blockaded Gaza Strip), and are instead subject to a regime that discriminates against them based on their ethnicity and religious beliefs.
At CWRU, the University had designated particular areas of campus for protest activities, and had even designated a “Spirit Wall” and an “Advocacy Wall” for students to paint their expressions of support or opinion for any cause.
Yet, after students painted expressions of support for Palestinians on these walls, University President Kaler, in a scene out of an Orwell novel, issued public statements condemning these messages as “threatening, intimidating and anti-Semitic” and hired contractors to paint over the walls to censor the student’s messages. Kaler’s statements did not specifically refer to any messages on these walls that could be reasonably construed as threatening, intimidating, or anti-Semitic, as no such messages had ever been painted on these walls.
As students learned of Kaler’s plans to paint over the “Spirit” and “Advocacy” walls, a group gathered on campus in an effort to prevent censorship of their pro-Palestine message. Three of these protesters stood immediately in front of one of these walls as CWRU police officers approached with painters carrying industrial spray-paint machines.
When the students refused to move from in front of the wall, the CWRU police officers ordered the painters to paint over the students, coating them with spray paint. The message to the protesters and CWRU community was intentional, clear, and consistent with a well-documented pattern of conduct by Kaler on behalf of the University: That pro-Palestine views are not welcome on CWRU’s campus, and students and community members who vocally support the Palestinian cause, or criticize the Israeli government, will be discriminated against by CWRU officials, including CWRU police.
As detailed in the complaint filed today in the Northern District of Ohio, and in a separate complaint filed last week in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, these actions by CWRU officials violated the protesters’ free-speech rights under the First Amendment, their right to be free from excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, and also constitute assault and battery under Ohio law.
“One of the worst and most insidious elements of modern American life is the preposterous notion that any criticism of the Israeli government’s actions, or any support for the Palestinian cause versus Israel, necessarily constitutes ‘anti-Semitism,’” said Peter Pattakos, lead attorney for the protesters. Pattakos added: “Robust protest activity on college campuses and robust criticism of needless violence and destruction caused by U.S.-backed military operations are hallmarks of American democracy and American values. This goes double when it comes to U.S. support for the military operations of a nation that expressly discriminates against citizens based on their ethnicity and religious beliefs, which stands credibly charged with war crimes at the Hague, and whose actions have been characterized as genocidal by countless credible global institutions and their leaders, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and Doctors without Borders. Unfortunately, far too many U.S. political and institutional ‘leaders’ have been bought and paid for by Israeli interests and the weapons manufacturers who profit from Israel’s apparent ethnic-cleansing project; so much so that we have officials of an institution with a history as distinguished as Case Western Reserve University’s thinking that it’s okay for them to blast students standing in support of innocent Palestinian civilians with industrial spray-paint machines. Thankfully this is still the United States of America, where the Bill of Rights and basic common law still apply, and where protesters like the Plaintiffs here can access remedies in court against those who violate their fundamental rights. We look forward to obtaining justice for the student protesters here.”
For a copy of the filed complaints in this matter see here (federal) and here (state). For more information, contact our firm by email at [info] at [pattakoslaw] dot com.