Man arrested by University of Texas police at pro-Israel speakers talk at UT Austin

University of Texas police arrested a 23-year-old at a Friday event at the Graduate School of Business called “Israel’s Moral War” for criminal trespass, resisting arrest and evading, a spokesperson for the UT Police Department confirmed to the American-Statesman.

Jarrid Cornell, the man arrested, is unaffiliated with the university, UTPD said.

“University staff laid out the rules for attending the event and made it known that anyone with disruptive behavior would be asked to leave. Mr. Cornell was being disruptive to the event and University staff requested officer assistance,” a UTPD spokesperson told the Statesman. “Officers asked Mr. Cornell to leave several times but he was not compliant. Officers then proceeded to arrest him for Criminal Trespass. Mr. Cornell resisted arrest and tried to run from officers, resulting in the above charges.”

Case records show Cornell's three charges are misdemeanors, though the Travis County attorney's office rejected the evading arrest and criminal trespass charges. Cornell has a court appearance scheduled Feb. 16 for the resisting arrest charge.

County attorney's office documents say the two other charges were thrown out as the resisting arrest charge "will be the main case and can take this behavior into account."

The event Friday was a talk by Yaron Brook, who served as first sergeant in Israeli military intelligence, hosted by the McCombs’ School of Business's Salem Center for Policy. The event description said that Brook will “explain why it might be morally necessary for Israel to not only see Hamas, but the Palestinian population at large as an enemy.”

Cornell, who described himself as an activist with a big heart who supports organizations advocating for Palestine but is not directly affiliated with any of those groups, told the Statesman on Tuesday that he attended the talk with his best friend. The duo did not attend to protest, but to document the event. He found out about the event from a video online, and Cornell said he was "disturbed" by the speaker's rhetoric.

"I wanted to know who was in that room, that was my intention of going in," Cornell said. "In the event that (the speaker) says something atrocious, I feel like I have an obligation to post it onto the internet."

At the event, Cornell filmed the speaker, and then moved to sit next to the microphone to better film each person who asked a question during the Q&A, he said. Police removed Cornell from the event after he stood up to film a speaker who he said had also filmed him.

Cornell said he was released from jail Saturday night. He said he has a history of trauma with police, which he said likely contributed to his reaction. He was previously charged in June 2020 for obstruction of a highway during that year's social justice protests, but the charge was dropped in October 2020, according to court documents. His attorney at the time told KXAN that the use of force when he was arrested was "excessive."

Cornell was also arrested at a protest in May 2020, but that charge was dropped in June.

Cornell's attorney George Lobb said he expects the UT case won't go to trial until late spring.

Lobb added that asking Cornell to leave violated his client's First Amendment rights and that resisting arrest is "one of the biggest bulls--- charges that police put on people."

The UT Dean of Students’ campus demonstration guidelines state that “creating disruptions in buildings or at university events” is prohibited. University policy also bans harassment and coercing attention, and states that off-campus persons who violate these policies can be subject to arrest or criminal trespass charges.

UTPD said no other individuals were arrested, and others who disrupted the event left peacefully at the request of staff or officers.

“The University of Texas at Austin Police Department (UTPD) is committed to safeguarding freedom of speech on campus, fostering an environment where all perspectives can be freely expressed and respected,” UTPD said.

What happened at the event?

A video posted by The Daily Texan, UT’s student newspaper, shows Cornell holding his phone up to the face of an individual asking a question who is wearing a yarmulke as others laugh. Cornell said he did not stand "in that fashion" when he recorded other speakers, but did so to document the individual's face, who Cornell said had put his phone in Cornell's face in "an antagonistic way" and whom he thought he'd seen counterprotesting for Israel at previous pro-Palestinian protests.

An officer is seen in the video approaching Cornell and asking him to leave. Cornell then says he was just recording and refuses to leave.

Another audience member then accuses UTPD of having a “double standard” when it comes to punishing for filming, saying she was also recorded. Cornell said this is part of the reason he wanted to ask officers why they were targeting him instead of simply complying.

Another officer is then seen approaching, and the two try to forcibly remove Cornell, who is seen resisting their hold and calling them “You f------ pigs.” He told them he'd walk out on his own, and, as he leaves, he yells expletives at the audience.

Cornell's arrest affidavit states that the officer was instructed to remove him from the event by a UT official. It states that Cornell screamed at the officer and tried to bite his shoulder, but instead bit the uniform patch. The officer states in the affidavit that he made the decision to handcuff Cornell because of his "combative demeanor." Cornell told the Statesman that he does not remember biting the officer, but he was in a trauma-response and did not know for sure.

In the hallway portion of the video, police approach Cornell's friend, who states she is filming for his security. Cornell yells at the officers to not touch his friend, who has a back injury, as they handcuff him. He said this likely contributed to his fight-or-flight response. His shoes squeak on the floor as he tries to escape, the video shows, but he is caught by officers and escorted out.

The affidavit states Cornell kicked to resist the officers taking him out and "became agitated" when officers searched him. Cornell said he eventually calmed himself down, complied with officers and walked to the cruiser.

Why did UT hold the event?

Gregory Salmieri, a senior scholar at the center, introduced Brook and said before the talk began that he knew the views would be “unwelcome by some." He told those in attendance that they were allowed to protest peacefully outside or disagree with the speaker, but if they disrupted the talk, campus police would escort them out.

“It’s so important that parties on both sides of the most contentious events have the freedom to speak, particularly parties on all sides of debate about war. And it’s equally important that we each take time on occasion to listen to the views we find most abhorrent,” Salmieri said. “If there’s anyone here who disagrees with Dr. Brook, you’re welcome to express your opinion briefly in a question to him at the end, and I hope you will.”

In December, protests escalated at UT when two teaching assistants were removed from their teaching position after posting a pro-Palestinian message to their class’s messaging page. The university said in a statement to the Statesman at the time that they “will not tolerate disruptions to the teaching and research activities of our students, faculty, and staff; our campus; or events.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: UTPD arrests individual after disruption at pro-Israel speaker's talk