Protesters Want To Sue UB After Arrests At Pro-Palestine Demonstration

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A group of pro-Palestine protesters arrested on the University at Buffalo’s North Campus in May are planning to file a lawsuit. The attorney representing the handful of demonstrators said his clients’ constitutional rights were violated.

Buffalo attorney Robert Corp is representing the protesters, who plan to take legal action. In July, Corp filed two legal documents warning local law enforcement and UB that a lawsuit could soon be headed their way.

What began as a pro-Palestine demonstration on May 1 at UB’s North Campus ended with the arrest of 15 people, who UB claimed violated its picket and assembly policy, which includes rules prohibiting gatherings at night.

Corp represents nine people who he says were simply peacefully protesting.

“This was not comparable to other universities that went viral in the country, where people took over private buildings and closed campuses, stopped classes for weeks and jeopardized exam schedules. Nothing like this happened,” Corp said.

Several local law enforcement agencies are named in the notice of claim filed in July. In addition, a notice of intent to file a claim names UB, among others.

Corp alleges that his clients’ constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful assembly have been violated.

“Nobody resisted arrest, nobody was violent on campus. Everybody was violently arrested,” Corp said. “A lot of them were thrown to the ground, they were kicked by the officers, they were punched and they were kicked. We had the police beat the hijab off a young woman who wasn’t even part of the protest.”

A UB spokesperson told WIVB News 4 that the school does not comment on the ongoing lawsuit.

When the demonstration ended, News 4 was told the university believed the protesters were planning to set up a new camp for the night.

“I don’t think it’s possible that the intent or the purpose or the actual reading of night meetings is to mean that 8:20, 8:22 at night is at night,” Corp. said. “If it got dark at 8:20, that doesn’t mean it was 8:20 at night.”

Following the arrests, more than 300 UB teachers signed a letter calling on school leaders to change their meeting policies.

UB’s new rules regarding time, place and manner now apply for a 30-day comment and review period.