A Texas assistant professor placed on administrative leave after delivering a pro-Palestinian speech has filed a lawsuit against his university, NBC News reported on Thursday.
Idris Robinson, an assistant philosophy professor at Texas State University, said in the lawsuit that university officials violated his free speech rights and retaliated against him.
He is asking a federal court to block the university from terminating his contract.
“After years of outstanding reviews and steady progress towards tenure, Professor Robinson was abruptly placed on administrative leave on June 6, 2025 — just one day after online activists demanded his termination in connection with a speech he gave as a private citizen on a matter of public concern in the Summer of 2024,” the lawsuit said.
A university spokesperson told NBC News that it cannot comment on pending litigation.
Police never mentioned Robinson
The lawsuit states that tensions between Robinson and university officials erupted after his June 2024 speech addressing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023.
During the event, a scuffle erupted involving four audience members and three pro-Israel activists.
Robinson, however, was not named as a witness or suspect in the 44-page police report detailing the incident.
Robinson said that shortly after the incident, he faced online harassment and calls directed at the university for his termination.
For years, academics and commentators in the US have complained of being targeted when they criticise Israel and its policies.
They are often accused of anti-Semitism when they take a stand against Zionism or Israel’s genocidal, aggressive policies towards Palestinians and its neighbours – stances also taken by many Israelis and Jews.
