Daniela Colombi, a University of Maryland, College Park student speaks at a press conference after she testified Sept. 30 at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Photo by William J. Ford.
The University of Maryland Police chief testified Monday that he recommended canceling an event planned by a pro-Palestinian student group for Oct. 7, the anniversary of Hamas attacks on Israel, after receiving threats against the group hosting the event.
Providing security for students and staff on campus “was a risk I was not comfortable with,” said Chief David Mitchell in testimony in U.S. District Court Monday.
But students, who sued the university for what they called an infringement of their free speech rights, accused campus officials of “erasing us” from the campus because they disagreed with the message students were trying to deliver.
After a daylong hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte said he would issue a written decision in the case by noon Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed nearly two weeks ago by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Palestine Legal on behalf of Students for Justice in Palestine, the student group seeking permission to hold the Oct. 7 events.
The suit claims the University of Maryland, College Park, campus President Darryll Pines and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents tried to restrict the student group “from engaging in protected expressive activity.”
The student group in July asked for, and got, permission to hold what they said would be “an educational” event on McKeldin Mall, in the heart of the College Park campus, to not only teach fellow students about Palestine, but also its culture. The vigil was scheduled to be co-hosted with another university student group, Jewish Voice for Peace.
University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell speaks reporters Sept. 30 after testifying at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Photo by William J. Ford.
But Pines issued a campuswide letter Sept. 1 canceling all student-led events on campus on Oct. 7. That letter also said campus police informed Pines that there’s “no immediate or active threat,” but the university still canceled events due to safety concerns.
In court Monday, however, Mitchell testified that the school received emails and other correspondence against the student group.
“Did anyone threaten to do violence against SJP on Oct. 7?” asked Gadeir Abbas, senior litigation attorney for CAIR.
“Yes,” Mitchell replied.
Mitchell said he recommended to Pines that the univeristy not allow the vigil based on not only those threats against the group, but also because he said he may not have enough officers to handle such an emotional event.
Assistant Attorney General Patrick Sheridan, who represented the university, asked Mitchell if emails and other threats came to the campus prior to Oct. 7, 2023.
No, Mitchell said, who added in his 14 years as police chief he’s never recommended for the cancellation of a campus event.
Instead of simply not allowing the group to host an event, Patricia Perillo, the university’s vice president for student affairs, testified that the group can hold its event on Oct. 8. Sheridan said if the Students for Justice in Palestine event is “purely educational purposes without any political content, they can do that on Oct. 8.”
But Daniela Colombi, a junior at Maryland and a member of SJP who testified for almost an hour Monday, said hosting the vigil on Oct. 7 “is a very big, symbolic day.” Oct. 7 was the day of a Hamas surprise attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis, sparking an ongoing Israeli military assault on Hamas in Gaza that health officials there say may have killed as many as 40,000 people.
“As students, we feel the need to stand up for our peers around the world,” Colombi said.
When asked in court if the group made any arrangements for space to host event Oct. 8, Colombi said no.
Even with threats to the group that include someone allegedly threatening to bring a gun on campus, Colombi said after the hearing “it’s the school’s responsibility to protect us from the people, not by erasing us from the campus. If there really are threats, then the university has the responsibility to address them, to make sure that it’s actually safe for all of us.”
Before the hearing ended slightly after 3 p.m., Messitte had a few remarks.
“The First Amendment matters. It’s not an easy proposition sometimes,” he said. “Whatever happens, the university will survive.”