Here's what the law says about protesting on college Texas campuses [View all]

Here's what the law says about protesting on college Texas campuses

snips for emphasis:

Gov. Greg Abbott cheered the arrests and called for the students to be expelled. Some UT students, professors and free speech advocates criticized the university and law enforcement response, calling it "disproportionate" and an "attack on students".

Free speech experts and advocates say students can generally peacefully protest, regardless of their viewpoint. However, colleges and authorities may still enforce some restrictions and criminal laws to maintain peace and order.

Protections for free speech are broad and can include controversial viewpoints, but they do not extend to the following:

True threats to harm another person
Inciting of imminent violence or destruction of public property
Unlawful conduct, including civil disobedience like sit-ins or traffic blockades

But these rights are not without limitations. Government entities and colleges can enact “reasonable time, place, and manner” restrictions or regulations as long as they are applied neutrally and don’t discriminate against particular groups or viewpoints. Some colleges have tried to limit protests to smaller, designated “free speech zones,” but the law has often backed up students peacefully protesting outdoors in open, public areas of campus, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.


https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/24/protest-texas-college-campus-free-speech-rights/