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ACLU Texas, students send letters to UT in response to disciplinary notices for protesters

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2024

ACLU Texas, students send letters to UT in response to disciplinary notices for protesters

The ACLU of Texas has sent a letter to University of Texas President Jay Hartzell expressing its fear that the university “may be squelching the First Amendment rights of its students” and chilling protected expression by investigating the conduct of some students who were arrested at pro-Palestinian protests April 24 and 29 on campus.

UT first initiated disciplinary proceedings June 7 for alleged rule violations by some student protesters, the American-Statesman previously reported. The letters included copies of arrest affidavits, pictures from the protests and Instagram posts about the demonstrations.

As part of the university’s letter, students were asked to prepare a written statement in response to 12 questions about their conduct that the American Civil Liberties Union said “presupposes that students receiving these notices violated University policy and ignores that the First Amendment protects peaceful protest.”

The ACLU also pointed to its concern about UT citing the probable cause affidavits as evidence, alleging that it violates students’ due process, as charges against all the protesters who were arrested April 24 were dismissed, and individuals “cannot be held responsible for the actions of a group simply because they participated in free speech activity.” It alleges that students are being punished indiscriminately for their involvement in the protests instead of any individual violations.

UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said in a June 14 email in regard to a second round of disciplinary notices the university issued that students were not being disciplined for protesting, but for violating university rules.

“UT Austin supports the rights of all members of our community to demonstrate and express their views while on our campus as long as they comply with our Institutional Rules,” he wrote.

Savannah Kumar, staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said the organization sent UT the letter out of fear that the university’s investigations would violate the protesters’ rights and chill free speech.

“When participating in protest is placed under such scrutiny and when students are put through these investigations, it suffocates the breathing room for our constitutional rights and can also erode the core tenets of the university too,” Kumar said. “That’s why we were concerned about what we’re seeing.”

Students reject accusations of rule violations

Police arrested a total of 136 people at the two protests, including 60 students. Many have criticized the police response as excessive and escalatory, but Hartzell, Gov. Greg Abbott and UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife praised the significant police action as necessary and effective in keeping the campus safe.

The UT protests were held in solidarity with other demonstrations across the nation that called on universities to divest from weapons manufacturers contributing to Israel’s war against Hamas, which has reportedly resulted in more than 34,000 deaths in Gaza. Israel began bombarding Gaza after Hamas, the region’s militant governing body, attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

The ACLU’s letter follows a collective letter that UT students sent to the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in response to the disciplinary notices, which alleged that students failed to comply with university rules and engaged in disruptive conduct. The students in their nine-page letter deny the university’s accusations and express fear that the process will be biased against them.

“We object to the accusation that our engagement in protected free speech activity is ‘disruptive’ to the university’s function,” the students’ letter said. “Indeed, we resolutely affirm the opposite: by exercising our basic rights to speech and peaceable assembly, we were, in fact, directly carrying out a daily function of the University.”

The collective letter cites past statements from the university and Hartzell supporting free speech, and it asks for all students to receive a no findings letter instead of an administrative disposition.

“We ask that you consider this and treat us with the compassion and understanding we deserve as students, Longhorns, and members of a democratic society,” the students’ letter said.

Sam Law, a UT graduate student who was arrested April 29 and received a disciplinary letter, said 23 students are planning to submit the letter to the university. He said people are also submitting character references and letters of support.

“The university hasn’t told us what the possible disciplinary consequences are, but a lot of us are deeply afraid that it could be suspensions or expulsions,” Law said, adding that that’s why many people decided to respond despite legal concerns with addressing allegations. “That is a much more severe consequence than a legal consequence.”

The students also mention concern over the process bypassing a typically scheduled in-person meeting in favor of written statements, which they worry will further reduce their right to due process. Rosen said previously in his June 14 email that the process ensures all students have due process.

Two teaching assistants who were removed from their position last fall for sending a pro-Palestinian message to their class did not have the opportunity for an in-person hearing because of a last-minute policy change by Hartzell to make the process more efficient. Their grievances for their job reassignments were eventually denied.

‘We enforce our institutional rules’

Rosen said the university cannot comment on individual cases, but on June 14 an undisclosed number of disciplinary notices were sent out to student protesters for alleged rules violations.

“The University has made clear that we enforce our institutional rules, and the conduct notices sent to students who violated our rules during protests on April 24 and 29 reflect that commitment,” the university’s statement said.

Kumar, however, said the university’s rules still need to leave “breathing space for the Constitution.”

“The university can’t just be invoking these rules and saying that if students broke these rules that’s enough to punish them if that application of those rules is squelching the right to engage in free speech activities, which is not something that students leave behind just because they decide to enroll,” Kumar said.

Rosen did not respond to the Statesman’s specific questions about UT’s response to the ACLU’s and students’ letters.

Law said protesters believe they are not guilty of the university’s accusations and are grateful for the ACLU’s support.

“I hope that the university takes it seriously and lives up to the principles that it purports to defend,” Law said.

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SMU secures commitment from Texas A&M transfer TE Theo Melin Öhrström

Published

11 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

SMU secures commitment from Texas A&M transfer TE Theo Melin Öhrström

One of the biggest questions facing Rhett Lashlee and his SMU football program this offseason is how the Mustangs will replenish the tight end position.

Not only did SMU’s tight ends coach leave, but the Mustangs are losing their top four tight ends from the 2025 roster. RJ Maryland, Matthew Hibner and Stone Eby all graduated and redshirt sophomore Adam Moore entered the transfer portal.

SMU began its rebuild of the tight ends room with a commitment from Texas A&M transfer Theo Melin Öhrström.

Melin Öhrström entered the portal on Dec. 26 after four years with the Aggies. The Stockholm, Sweden native appeared in 40 games for Texas A&M, catching 29 balls for 352 yards and three touchdowns. In 2025, the 6-foot-6, 257-pound tight end made four starts and caught 19 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown.

Melin Öhrström redshirted in 2022, so he has one year of eligibility remaining and will have a chance to secure a bigger role during his final collegiate season. He chose the Mustangs over Houston, Kansas State and Auburn

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Find more SMU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Arizona State transfer RB Raleek Brown commits to Texas

Published

23 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Arizona State transfer RB Raleek Brown commits to Texas

Recruiting a running back out of the NCAA transfer portal wasn’t clean and simple after the winter window opened last week, but the Texas Longhorns were able to land a huge commitment from Arizona State transfer Raleek Brown on Thursday.

The 5’9, 196-pounder has one season of eligibility remaining.

Texas offered Brown out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana (Calif.) when he was a top-100 prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. A consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 3 running back nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Brown committed to home-state USC without taking any other official visits.

Brown’s career with the Trojans didn’t go as planned, however — after flashing as a freshman with 227 yards on 42 carries (5.4 avg) with three touchdowns and 16 receptions for 175 yards (10.97 avg) and three touchdowns, Brown moved to wide receiver as a sophomore and only appeared in two games, recording three catches for 16 yards and a touchdown.

Wanting to play running back again, Brown transferred to Arizona State in 2024, but was limited by a hamstring injury to 48 yards of total offense.

In 2025, though, Brown finally had his breakout season with 186 carries for 1,141 yards and four touchdowns, adding 34 receptions for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Brown forced 53 missed tackles last season, 67 percent of the total missed tackles forced by Texas running backs, and more than half of his rushing yardage came after contact.

Brown ran a sub 4.5 40-yard dash and sub-11 100-meter dash in high school and flashed that explosiveness with runs of 75 yards and 88 yards in 2025, so Brown brings the speed that the Longhorns need with 31 yards over 10 yards, as well as proven route-running and pass-catching ability.

At Arizona State, the scheme leaned towards gap runs, but Brown has the skill set to be an excellent outsize zone back if Texas head coach Steve Sarksian decides that he wants to major in that scheme once again.

With one running back secured from the portal, the question becomes whether Sarkisian and new running backs coach Jabbar Juluke want to add a big-bodied back to the roster or are comfortable with rising redshirt sophomore Christian Clark and incoming freshman Derrek Cooper handling that role.

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Texas leaders react to fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Texas leaders react to fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

article

Texas lawmakers are lighting up social media with opinions about the fatal shooting of a woman in a car in Minneapolis by an ICE officer on Wednesday morning.

Reports from officers differ drastically from those of uninvolved eyewitnesses — the official DHS stance is self-defense against a “domestic terrorist,” while bystanders tell a story of an innocent woman trying to leave peacefully.

The political internet arena Texas is divided along party lines. Republicans generally condemn Minnesota leaders’ reactions to the shooting, while Democrats are calling for ICE to be investigated for the possible murder of a civilian by an anonymous officer.

Texas Republicans react

Among the most vocal of the Texas GOP members after Wednesday’s shooting, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Houston) was quick to question Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s dismay at the incident. Hunt posted the following to X, formerly Twitter:

“We’ve hit a breaking point in this country when an ICE officer is rammed by a lunatic in an SUV and the Mayor of Minneapolis responds not with condemnation, but by telling federal law enforcement to “get the f*ck out!”

UNITED STATES – JANUARY 22: Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hunt, currently in the running for U.S. Senate, later reposted a Fox News video of Gov. Tim Walz’ reaction. Hunt compared Walz to Jefferson Davis before posting a full statement later in the evening that reads, in part, as follows:

“The radical left isn’t turning the temperature down, they’re cranking it to 450 degrees. When leaders normalize this kind of rhetoric, the outcome isn’t hypothetical. It’s dangerous. It’s reckless. And it puts lives at risk. If violence follows, responsibility doesn’t belong to the officers enforcing the law, it belongs to the politicians who lit the fuse.”

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was more to the point with his criticism of Minnesota leaders, reposting a different video of Walz and referencing the recent fraud scandal within the state.

Walz in the video said Minnesota is “at war with the federal government.” Cruz replied, “Is that why y’all stole $9 billion?”

Texas Democrats react

The other side:

State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), another candidate for the same U.S. Senate seat as Hunt, rang in from the other side of the aisle.

“At our town hall last night, I called for a full investigation into ICE,” Talarico said in his post on X. “Today, an ICE agent shot and killed a civilian. We should haul these masked men before Congress so the world can see their faces.”

State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, during a campaign event in Houston, Texas, US, on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. Talarico is jumping into the Democratic primary for US Senate in Texas, taking on a former

Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, yet another Senate hopeful, also expressed his ire for the actions in Minneapolis.

“As a civil rights attorney, I’m outraged by today’s ICE shooting in Minnesota that took a woman’s life,” Allred said on X. “No family should lose a loved one this way. No community should live in this fear. ICE has become a rogue agency — operating recklessly, terrorizing communities, and now taking lives. To every community terrorized by these tactics: I see you. I stand with you. And I won’t stop fighting until you’re safe.”

Minneapolis fatal ICE shooting

The backstory:

An ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.

Federal officials are claiming the agent acted in self-defense, but Minnesota leaders disagree. The shooting happened around 9:30 a.m. in the area of East 34th Street and Portland Avenue. The woman died at the hospital.

Witnesses told FOX Local that a woman got into a red vehicle and there was one ICE agent on either side of the vehicle trying to get in, and a third ICE agent came and tried to yank on the driver’s side door. One of the agents on the driver’s side door backed away, and then opened fire, shooting three times through the driver’s side window, witnesses said. One witness said the vehicle wasn’t moving toward the agents. However, federal officials said ICE officers were “conducting targeted operations” when “rioters” blocked officers. One of the “rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.”

Officials said an ICE officer who was “fearing for his life” fired “defensive shots” to save himself and his officers, killing the woman.

A video of the shooting shows a red Honda Pilot blocking the roadway as an ICE squad approaches. When agents approach the vehicle, the Pilot attempts to drive away, moving towards an agent. When that happens, the agent fires three shots at the driver. Police say the driver was struck in the head. The agent appears to mostly avoid the vehicle as it speeds past and ends up crashing into a parked vehicle.

The Source: Information in this report comes from public statements made by Texas lawmakers on social media. Background comes from FOX 9 coverage in Minneapolis.

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