A group of pro-Palestinian University of Texas students tried to make a statement Friday before the start of an event sponsored by the UT Institute for Israel Studies.
The student group wasn't part of the program, but they say what happened next went too far.
”What happened was outrageous, I mean their treatment at the event itself was a complete violation of their first amendment rights,” said attorney Brian McGiverin.
Tuesday, UT students from the Palestine Solidarity Committee submitted a civil rights complaint to the University.
Mohammed Nabulsi says he was physically confronted, and assaulted, by a recent UT graduate in the lecture hall.
He thinks the behavior was encouraged by the professor in charge of the event: Dr. Ami Pedahzur.
But Nabulsi says what that professor did after the incident was worse.
"He released a statement, on an official University of Texas webpage, revealing my personal information and likening my participation in a peaceful demonstration to the tragic events that transpired in Paris,” said Nabulsi.
Patrick Higgens—a former UT student—was also at the demonstration, holding a Palestinian flag.
A video shows the flag being ripped out of his hand.
”The University of Texas Austin has banned me from its campus,” said Higgens.
”The University is a place where tough questions can be addressed from multiple perspectives,” said President Gregory Fenves.
As of Tuesday evening, UT President Fenves had not watched the video.
He says the university is still investigating the situation.
”Our education of our students, the scholarship of our faculty, depends on free and unencumbered speech,” added Fenves.