Today, Wednesday, 4/29/26, a respected UW student, community member, and member of the student climate action organization Institutional Climate Action was detained by the UW Police Department (UWPD) for engaging in a nonviolent counterprotest outside of a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) “Prove Me Wrong” event with right-wing agitator Nick Freitas. The TPUSA organizers held the event on campus on the Husky Union Building lawn, adjacent to a busy sidewalk. The student was detained while acting as the drummer for the counterprotest alongside chants from other student protesters exercising their rights to free speech on campus.

The UWPD claimed that the drumming was disruptive and arrested the protester for disorderly conduct, according to the University administration. However, when asked by students and community members on the ground, UWPD refused to give reason for arrest and gave minimal warning, a clear example of repression. All students at the UW should be able to express their First Amendment rights, but instead, UW administration and UWPD give preferential treatment in terms of who gets to express their rights on campus and who does not. This shows an arbitrary and discriminatory use of policy and resources to repress student protest.

This arrest is follows an increasing trend of political repression that the UW administration and UWPD have engaged in over recent months, including detaining student protestors at President Jones’ speeches, firing Professor Aria Fani as the Director of the Middle East Center for speaking out against the bombing of Iran, and prosecuting students and community members for protesting against the genocide in Palestine. Current University leadership has shown tolerance and support for harmful viewpoints, with President Robert Jones joining right-wing radio host Ari Hoffman in a town hall, and one of the University’s regents proudly declaring themself a Zionist in the March 12, 2025 Board of Regents meeting. University leadership have used disciplinary action and violence to suppress community members condemning Israel’s genocide and numerous war crimes in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran. To permit hateful rhetoric on campus while detaining those who speak out against it showcases a clear tendency towards preserving and facilitating injustice.