Two judges are ordering UT Austin to not delete communications between the University of Texas Police Department and the Dean of Students Office surrounding arrests last year during protests of the Israeli war in Gaza.
On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell ordered the university to keep — or not delete — communications surrounding the arrest of Ammer Qaddumi, a pro-Palestinian demonstrator who was arrested last year. The order came after Qaddumi's attorneys balked at UT Austin's move to delete information related to Qaddumi's April 2024 arrest and suspension from the university.
In another case involving a January 2024 arrest of Jarrid Cornell, a Travis County judge ordered the university to "cease and desist all deletion" of internal communications. That order came on Thursday after Cornell's attorney alleged UT staff used chat apps to hide information leading up to his client's arrest at a pro-Israeli event.
The two cases have hearings scheduled later in May. KUT reached out to the university for comment on the orders, but a university spokesperson declined to comment.
The rulings come on the heels of another lawsuit filed by students who were arrested during pro-Palestinian demonstrations last April. Students sued Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety, UTPD and the UT Board of Regents on Wednesday. The federal suit filed on behalf of four students argues UT unlawfully targeted them in "violent" arrests — and that the university violated students' First Amendment rights to protest peacefully.
