Guardian - The University of Maryland cannot block students from holding an event on 7 October to mourn those killed in Gaza, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, allowing students to move forward with it. tudents with the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine had reserved a room in July to host the event. In August, school leaders met with them to share concerns about the event and pressure they had been receiving to cancel it. On 1 September, the school’s president announced he was canceling all student-sponsored events on 7 October and would only allow school-sponsored events. The school cited security concerns in support of its decision and said school officials had received death threats as news of the event spread.
The decision to cancel the event probably violated the students’ first amendment rights, Peter Messitte, a US district judge appointed by Bill Clinton, wrote in a ruling on Tuesday. The school could have also taken other steps short of canceling the event to bolster security, including hiring additional personnel or even law enforcement... Darryll Pines, the University’s president, said in an email that the school would respect the court’s decision.
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