A University of Michigan student claimed in a lawsuit that school officials, police and private security contractors retaliated against and surveilled him after he took part in “pro-Palestinian speech and advocacy” on campus.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. Eastern District of Michigan, detailed how Josiah Walker, a Black Muslim student activist at the university, faced a “sustained campaign” against him. He is suing the university board, President Domenico Grasso, former President Santa Ono, UM’s Chief of Police Crystal James, several campus police officers and Amerishield, the parent company of City Shield the school contracted with to provide “plainclothes security” on campus.
Walker was repeatedly followed by private security the university contracted, violently attacked by UM police and blacklisted from employment due to exercising his First Amendment rights, according to the lawsuit. He also claimed the university’s retaliation against him was heightened because of his race and religion.
Walker is represented by attorneys with the Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, as well as the Troy-based law firm Akeel & Valentine.
“Public universities ought to be places where people can be critical of foreign governments without facing undue harms to the integrity of their persons, interests, and property,” Walker said in a statement released by CAIR-MI. “The University of Michigan’s decision to mobilize public and private assets to suppress my viewpoints was dangerously irresponsible and constitutes a profound act of institutional betrayal that must be rectified.”
Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Internal Communications Paul Corliss declined Thursday to comment on the lawsuit.
What the lawsuit claims
Walker served as a board member of the student organization Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and was a lead volunteer with the campus Muslim chaplaincy, the lawsuit said. As a student, he held leadership positions with other student advocacy groups and worked at UM as a student employee.
The lawsuit claimed the university penalized students protesting against the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza and calling for the university to divest from Israel more harshly than other student protests because it wanted to suppress their activism. This directly violated the students’ First Amendment rights, according to the filing.
“The (university’s) actions discriminated against (Walker) because of the views that he expressed and the content of his speech; because of his association with others expressing similar views; and for petitioning the University of Michigan to change its investment policies,” the lawsuit said. “Walker was subjected to uniquely discriminatory and retaliatory treatment that was both severe and punitive, solely because of his viewpoints; the content of speech; his association with groups and persons holding similar views; and his attempts to petition the University to change its policies.”
Walker was unlawfully attacked by police while police dismantled the encampment student protesters constructed, the lawsuit said. One officer sprayed Walker directly in the face with pepper spray and two other officers tackled him to the ground, according to the filing. Walker was not arrested or detained.
However, when he tried to retrieve his personal items after the encampment was dismantled, he was issued a “trespass ban” from Detective Ryan Cavanaugh, the lawsuit said. Walker was barred from the university’s Diag, a public gathering space where protests, including the encampment, are held. The “trespass ban” said Walker “committed or was suspected of committing a crime while on campus or against persons or property, disrupted the operation and lawful function of the university and demonstrated a risk of physical harm or injury to others or damage to property,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also detailed instances where Walker was followed by plainclothes security officers with City Shield, which UM hired to “provide discreet awareness of potential illegal activities without escalating tensions.”
Agents were also observed watching and taking photos in areas where only UM students and staff had access.
Several times Walker tried to question why the City Shield agents were following him, but each time they escalated the situation to where he felt unsafe, the lawsuit said. After being questioned, City Shield agent Doug Bayer loudly yelled on a public street that Walker was “trying to rob him” and “steal his wallet.”
In June, UM denied there was any surveillance of individuals or student groups or requests or authorization for the surveillance of any students on or off campus.
Walker was arrested while watching a “die-in” protest at the university’s Diag after his trespass ban was put in place, the lawsuit said. Cavanaugh rushed Walker from behind and tackled him to the ground using the full weight of his body. Other officers quickly joined and used the weight of their bodies to pin, restrain, and arrest Walker.
Walker also lost his job as a result of violating the trespass ban and other charges campus police leveled against him.
Other lawsuits related to campus protests
Eight former employees sued the university in May 2025, claiming university officials denied their First Amendment rights for freedom of speech, protest and making demands of their government. The ongoing lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, also said university officials violated the employees’ due process rights. An amended complaint later added that the officials conspired to dissuade them from filing the suit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed suit in federal court in February 2025 against the school, challenging the Ann Arbor university’s “trespass ban” that barred from campus at least five individuals who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
The lawsuit also challenged a “sweeping” and “overly broad” university policy barring on-campus “disruptions.”
Six current or former students who participated in protests filed a class action lawsuit against the university in December 2024, saying their free speech and due process rights were violated and they faced discrimination for their pro-Palestinian views.
The federal lawsuit alleged UM initiated discipline proceedings against the students for speech-related conduct that other groups weren’t punished for; conducted disciplinary proceedings that differed by race and longstanding practices; violated their due process rights; imposed restraints on speech by requiring the group to get a permit before speaking at or near the Diag; and disciplined the group for engaging in protected speech on Instagram.
satwood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: UM ‘retaliated against’ and ‘surveilled’ student activist, suit says
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
