KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Wrapped in both the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh and an American flag, Yassin Terou stood proudly in front of the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility on Thursday morning.
Around 12 hours earlier, Terou was handcuffed with zip ties and charged with criminal trespassing on the University of Tennessee campus.
"A lot of people, they are trying to turn this between American and Palestinian. We are proud Americans supporting the stop of the genocide in Palestine," said Terou, the owner of Yassin's Falafel House.
Over a decade ago, Terou arrived in Knoxville as a refugee from Syria. He opened his restaurant in 2014, which was recognized as the "Nicest Place in America" by Reader's Digest in 2018.
"The officer for the booking asked me not to smile," Terou said, referring to his mugshot following Wednesday's arrest. "I told them I'm happy to be on the right side. I'm happy to be with the students. If in the future something happens to free speech, I'm happy I did my part. I'm happy I stand for it and the right side, in the right history."
The right side of history is also where several UT students said they stood Wednesday evening, as they gathered for a vigil in front of the College of Law to commemorate Nakba Day and mourn the loss of Palestinian lives for over 75 years.
According to a statement from the university, 11 people were taken into custody, including three students and eight people not affiliated with UT.
"I just wish people would stop being so apathetic," Hezekia McDonald, an undergraduate student studying computer science, said. "It doesn't take a lot to go and care about other people, even if they're on the other side of the world."
McDonald was also arrested Wednesday evening. UT administrators said they gave protesters multiple warnings on Wednesday: move to a different designated spot on campus or get arrested.
"It's hilarious that the university is saying, 'We told you this is the free speech area. You can have free speech there, you cannot come here.' That is just ridiculous," said Theodoros Kyriakopoulos, an environmental engineering PhD student who was arrested Wednesday evening.
"I was very clear with the administration, with the police there," Terou said. "Like, if you give us 20 minutes, I'm going to make sure everybody will leave safe and you don't need to do anything. They [were] like, 'We are not here to negotiate.' They [were] looking to show us muscles and actually, they did."
Terou said getting arrested was not part of the plan, but he will continue to fight for the freedom of Palestinians, as well as his and other Americans' freedom of speech.
"If you don't stand up for other people's rights, it's going to come the time for you when you need people to stand for your rights," he said.
Terou said officers ignored his medical condition and injured his wrist during the arrest. He spent a portion of the night in the hospital. Terou serves on the Board of Visitors for UT's Department of Religious Studies and was presented with the university's CCI Diversity Award in 2021.
UT answered some questions about the arrests on Thursday. The answers to those specific questions are available below.
UT Statement
How many warnings were given to demonstrators and how much time were they given to leave the area in front of the College of Law?
The university has repeatedly communicated across the last two weeks about following policies, including regarding the time, place and manner for holding events, to the protest group leaders. We’ve provided signage at their reserved event space. We also continue to follow our tiered response protocol. On May 15 specifically, along with signage at the event space, an administrator provided a verbal warning, then UTPD provided a verbal warning, that violation would result in trespass citation and arrest if they did not vacate the area within 10 minutes.
How and why did this differ from the 10 p.m. curfew cited by the university in prior incidents?
University leadership has repeatedly shared with the group that we have implemented time, place, and manner restrictions under the university’s Policy Affirming Principles of Free Speech for Students and Faculty. We have communicated to the group that the area they have chosen to frequent over the past several weeks - the Student Union Cumberland Plaza - has been reserved for their event from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. through Saturday, May 11, then extended again through Saturday, May 18, subject to further notice from the university.
The demonstrators posted their intentions to violate time, place, and manner restrictions on social media by convening on the lawn of the College of Law, despite having assigned reserved space for their event across the street. Efforts to dissuade them were unsuccessful, and as a demonstrator’s own personal video account attests, some made a conscious choice to ignore repeated requests and warnings and moved their event to non-reservable areas, knowing they would be arrested.
Additionally, TN Code § 40-7-118 (2017) states that a citation (as compared to an arrest) is not appropriate if “there is a reasonable likelihood that the offense would continue or resume.”
What is the law or university policy stating that people can gather in one spot as opposed to another?
More details about time, place and manner restrictions are outlined on the university’s Free Speech at UT webpage, and in the Hilltopics Student Handbook. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has a helpful explanation of time, place and manner restrictions on university campuses in the context of current events.
Will the students who were arrested last night be subjected to the same university procedures as the students arrested on May 2? What is that process?
Those arrested last night were charged with criminal trespassing, and students alleged to have violated campus policy are subject to the Code of Conduct. The process can be found here. FERPA prevents us from discussing individual cases.
Lawyer response
"Criminal trespass is typically a very low-level misdemeanor, or a B or a C misdemeanor. It will go like any other misdemeanor case through the General Sessions Court. I would anticipate these matters will be resolved favorably," said Don Bosch, a legal analyst.
He said as long as UT gives the gathering somewhere to protest, the university is not violating First Amendment rights. He also said university policy allows it to impose time, place and manner restrictions on protests.
Mike Whalen, a local attorney, has been giving advice to the People's School for Gaza for weeks. He said the university is applying laws differently to them, compared to other types of gatherings.
"You can't just choose to apply the policy sometimes, and apply the law sometimes, and not apply them sometimes. And God help you if you come tailgating this fall because we got food and you got the little tent over your head, you're intending to camp," Whalen said.
Whalen said students with the People's School for Gaza have been getting mixed messages from UT, and he said the university is choosing to selectively apply its rules.