A University of Texas at Dallas professor is suing school administrators and local law enforcement after he said his constitutional rights were violated and he was discriminated against at an on-campus protest last year.
In a federal civil rights federal suit filed Sunday, assistant professor Ali Asgar Alibhai alleged university officials and officers "punished" him when he was among 20 people arrested at a student-led demonstration last year in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Alibhai says he was observing and recording the protest at the time of his arrest.
The suit, first reported by UTD student newspaper The Retrograde claims Richard Benson, university president at the time, imposed retaliatory restrictions on professors and treated minority faculty members harsher than white faculty members who were detained. Alibhai is South Asian and Muslim.
“Defendants’ actions were not mere misjudgments,” the suit read. “They were deliberate exercises of institutional power, designed to target, escalate, and silence those who stood at the intersection of peaceful protest and vulnerable identity.”
Alibhai is claiming eight different counts in his suit, including First Amendment violations, Fourth Amendment violations for retaliatory arrest and unlawful seizure and arrest, Fourteenth Amendment due process and equal protection violations, false imprisonment, assault, retaliation, and racial discrimination.
KERA News reached out to UT Dallas and will update this story with any response.
Alibhai said in the suit he was walking across campus when he encountered protesters and was alarmed by the number of police officers with riot gear and firearms. Concerned for the safety of the students, Alibhai said, he began recording video footage on his phone and telling officers, “they are just kids.”
That’s when Alibhai said officers kicked him, twisted his limbs, ripped his shirt and attempted to throw him to the ground before arresting him.
One officer applied force to Alibhai’s shoulder blade, tightened restraints, and dragged him across campus without telling him why he was being arrested, according to the suit. He said he was not told he had been charged with criminal trespassing until after he was released from custody.
The suit also claims Alibhai was placed in a van following his arrest with no ventilation for nearly an hour, where he experienced overheating and pleaded for help. Alibhai says officers laughed and ignored his calls for help.
A Collin County grand jury in April found there wasn’t enough evidence to indict Alibhai.
The suit also claims Benson “publicly endorsed” the arrests during the protest in press statements and faculty meetings. While the suit did not name any specific press statements, Benson previously wrote an op-ed to The Dallas Morning News about what happened that day.
The suit alleges the university discriminated against him by limiting his employment and academic opportunities, and imposing harsher restrictions than white faculty also arrested that day by limiting his access to the campus and university activities.
Alibhai says he is required to give the UT Dallas Police Department an advance notice when he plans to be on campus and remains under informal sanction, according to the suit.
"Their actions were not merely unconstitutional, they were disgraceful," the suit reads. "Strip away the tactical gear and badges, and the story becomes simple: a professor spoke, and for that, he was punished."
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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