DETROIT — A group of pro-Palestinian students is suing Wayne State University in federal court, alleging that the university violated their constitutional rights during a solidarity encampment held on campus on May 23, 2024, to protest the Israeli war on Gaza and demand divestment from companies tied to the Israeli government.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the Troy-based law firm Akeel & Valentine, Jeffrey L. Edison, The Khuja Law Firm, Ayad Law PLLC and Gerald Evelyn, representing four current students, three alumni and one parent. It names Wayne State University, its campus police department and seven officers, the dean of students and an assistant dean as defendants.

The plaintiffs seek monetary damages and a jury trial, claiming the university violated their First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights through “violent raids, mass arrests and ongoing retaliation by the defendants against peaceful student protest.”

The complaint accuses the defendants of gross negligence and continuing malicious prosecution of the students. It states:

“Defendants retaliated and discriminated against American students of diverse faiths, races and ethnic backgrounds based on the content of their speech and their views on issues of concern to the university community — including students, faculty and staff at Wayne State — and to the public at large, in violation of the plaintiffs’ rights to free speech, due process and equal protection.”

University officials said that they could not comment on pending litigation, but emphasized the university’s commitment to “maintaining a safe and inclusive educational environment for all, while supporting the rights of all students, faculty and staff to exercise their freedoms of expression and worship,” according to university spokesperson Matt Lockwood.

“We will also continue to ensure that conduct on our campus does not break the law, violate the rights of others, conflict with university policy or disrupt university operations,” he added.

The May 23, 2024, encampment was organized by students opposed to what they described as genocide in Gaza. The protest prompted the university to shift to remote learning. On May 30, campus police were ordered to dismantle the encampment, resulting in the arrest of 12 individuals. Five were charged, but the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office later dropped the charges in September 2024 due to insufficient evidence.

According to the lawsuit, students — including Caleb Mallery, Jackson Robak, Nuzmeya Abdrabboh, Ayah Abuelenain, Ridaa Khan, Saeida Marini, John Pablo Rojas and Jenna Sukkar — were asleep in tents when police officers raided the encampment without warning and arrested some of them using force.

Abdrabboh alleged that a police officer yanked her hijab while she was backing away, causing her to fall. The complaint states that her hijab was pulled off during the arrest, and she was taken into custody in a police vehicle.

Robak said four officers restrained him by the neck, briefly causing him to lose consciousness. The lawsuit adds, “Jackson’s nose was visibly bleeding during the arrest, and he remembers the fear on the faces of those witnessing the police brutality, intensifying the psychological and physical trauma of the incident.”

The plaintiffs also include Khan, a senior at the time and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, along with students Sukkar and Abuelenain, and her mother, Saeeda Marini. Abuelenain alleges that police pulled her bag tightly around her neck, causing her to choke, before arresting her and her mother.

According to the complaint, Abdrabboh, Robak and Sukkar remain enrolled at Wayne State. Abuelenain graduated in 2023, and Khan had already graduated by the time the lawsuit was filed.