Students Protesting Gaza Genocide File Lawsuit Against USF, Alleging Violations of Constitutional Rights

Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, a group protesting in support of Palestinian rights, filed suit last week against the University of South Florida, claiming the university violated members’ constitutional rights after expelling one student and disciplining others.

In an 85-page complaint filed in federal court in Tampa, the group [TBSDS] alleges 19 counts against the university, including negligent training, conspiracy to violate rights, defamation, libel, slander, discrimination, and violation of due process and free speech.

“Since at least October of 2023, Defendants have conspired to violate Plaintiffs’ constitutional and statutory rights by suppressing their speech and advocacy, stigmatizing their organization, and subjecting them to baseless and discriminatory conduct sanctions, all due to their protected speech and activity in support of Palestinians, and in defense of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs that benefit minority students,” attorneys for the students wrote.

The suit names the USF trustees, USF Police Department, President Rhea Law, Assistant Dean and Director of Student Conduct & Ethical Development Melissa Graham, and Dean of Students Danielle McDonald.

“USF values free speech and the right of individuals and groups to express themselves. However, such activity must follow university policies and state and federal laws, and there are consequences for those who fail to comply,” the university said in a written statement.

USF said the organization was expelled in 2024 because of “multiple and repeated violations of the university’s student code of conduct.”

“USF stands by the sanctions imposed on SDS and we will defend ourselves against these meritless claims through the legal process,” the statement reads.

Plaintiff Victoria Hinckley was expelled days before she was to graduate, and suspension and other conduct sanctions were made against Saba Indawala and Vicky Tong. They seek monetary damages and injunctive relief, including reversal of sanctions against the students.

The plaintiffs claim USF was “treating them differently from other similar situated persons because of the Palestinian nationality, ethnicity, and alienage and association therewith of Plaintiffs and their speech,” and were “singled out” “in conspiracy with several high profile local megadonors including but not limited to the JCC [Jewish Community Centers & Federation] as part of a cash for influence scheme.”

The plaintiffs cite initiatives between JCC and other organizations and the university, saying JCC and USF “have conspired for over a decade to target and silence pro-Palestinian speech.”

Timeline

Among the damages alleged: “Plaintiffs have sustained severe emotional pain, anguish, humiliation, insult, indignity, loss of self-esteem, inconvenience and hurt, postponed graduations among other things, and have suffered tremendous mental and emotional damages due to Defendants’ conspiracy to silence and stigmatize them on campus”

The group objects to university allegations that students started a riot and says that administrators used “sham conduct proceedings that fail to provide basic due process protections.” It also alleges “the creation of arbitrary and capricious policies contemporaneous with or immediately after pro-Palestine events, without notice or due process” and discriminatory application of those policies against the organization.

In February 2024, after pro-Palestine flyers were posted on campus, the “USF administration caved to this external anti-Palestinian pressure and complied with the demand by scheduling a disciplinary meeting — itself a significant disincentive for students to continue their advocacy in support of Palestinians.”

In April 2024, the organization protested budget cuts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, including a march to McDonald’s office to deliver petitions, the suit says. “In retaliation for this petition delivery action, Defendants issued TBSDS four conduct charges and put the organization on interim suspension.”

They allege that during the Spring 2024 semester, McDonald shut down all organizational tabling efforts.

The most detailed account in the complaint involved attempts to host events remembering the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” referring to the Arab perspective of the 1948 creation of Israel that displaced Palestinians, despite bans and time, place, and manner restrictions from the university. As the timeline goes, students were shut down by campus police because the location had been declared a study zone.

At 1 p.m., the group asked what time the curfew would be imposed. At 4:30, McDonald replied “5:00.” The “curfew was created out of thin air, with no basis in USF policies or procedures, and with insufficient notice to Plaintiffs and others assembled in the Plaza.”

That night, the plaintiffs allege, “USF hastily installed surveillance cameras on a tree next to the MLK Plaza in furtherance of its campaign of intimidation against Plaintiffs.”

The next day, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse students who pressed the 5 p.m. curfew and students were arrested.

“​​In the moments after the tear gas was deployed, a TBSDS-associated student asked MCDONALD whether she approved of the police brutality against USF students, and MCDONALD stated she was happy to see it,” the suit alleges.

The suit claims that President Law “falsely stated that the protest stopped being peaceful when Plaintiffs and other students attempted to stay in the MLK Plaza past 5:00 pm.”

The suit details other run-ins, including one in which McDonald attempted to “corral” students who showed up to a protest advocating for free expression. Some students were issued a trespass warning during that encounter.

The suit alleges “[s]elective over-enforcement of those new and arbitrary policies against TBSDS and its members to interfere with and terminate pro-Palestinian events and cripple the TBSDS organization on campus, by violating the organization or its members’ ability to advocate, assemble, and speak.”

The school eliminated the group as a student organization and has rejected attempts for it to form again under another name. The complaint seeks restoration of the group’s campus registration.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday.

In the months following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Florida politicians boasted about how universities in the state handled pro-Palestine protesters and punished alleged anti-semitic behavior.

USF was among the universities the Phoenix wrote about in the summer of 2024 that tightened restrictions on protesting. That coverage included a letter from McDonald to students at the start of the school year, updating them on the new policies.

–Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix