Listen to this articleURBANA — The University of Illinois has settled out of court with a student who sued it on the grounds that a no-contact order against him stifled his First Amendment freedoms.
Under the terms of the settlement, a copy of which was obtained by The News-Gazette through an open-records request, junior Blair Nelson would agree to follow a no-contact order, but one that wouldn’t restrict him from recording a graduate student he was accused of following, as long as it’s inadvertent or at a public event.
However, he would be restricted from intentional conduct “that a reasonable person under the circumstances would conclude is intended to intimidate or harass (Tariq) Khan.”
The civil suit filed in federal court by Nelson and Andrew Minik and Joel Valdez, fellow students at the time, stemmed from a 2017 incident in which Khan allegedly grabbed Valdez’s phone during a protest of President Donald Trump in front of the Alma Mater and threw it to the ground while Nelson was filming.
The federal lawsuit accuses the UI of issuing restraining orders against Andrew Minik, Joel Valdez and Blair Nelson, who wrote about the incident for the website Campus Reform, because of their political views. Another defendant, graduate student Tariq Khan, filed a counterclaim requesting damages from the three students.
About a month later, on the day Khan appeared in court on a misdemeanor charge of criminal damage to property, the three plaintiffs were issued no-contact directives by Assistant Dean of Students Rony Die. (The charge against Khan was later dismissed after he successfully completed a second-chance program.)
“Nelson agrees this ... constitutes a lawful, enforceable agreement and does not violate his constitutional rights or any other rights,” the settlement states.
An attorney for Nelson could not be reached for comment.
The settlement also includes a declaration from Nelson that insists he was acting as a journalist.
“At no point, either before this litigation began, nor any time after, have I stalked or harassed Mr. Khan,” the settlement goes on to state. “Since this litigation began, I have purposefully avoided Mr. Khan and have not continued my reporting on him.”
Khan accused Nelson of violating the no-contact order by filming and following him, including at State Farm Center, according to the settlement.
The plaintiffs argued the no-contact order restricted their ability to report, but the UI said the order was not content-based and did not restrict the plaintiffs from publishing.
In a statement after the lawsuit was filed in April 2018, UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler declined to comment on pending litigation, but said, “The university is committed to protecting the rights of expression and speech of all members of our community.”
This week, attorneys for the UI filed a stipulation to dismiss the lawsuit based on a settlement being reached.
“The university has stated clearly that it denies the allegations in the lawsuit, but ending the litigation now allows the parties to move forward and prevents additional costs for either side,” Kaler said Friday.
Nelson was initially joined by Minik and Valdez in suing the UI last year, but the latter’s complaints were dismissed earlier this year because they’re no longer students at the UI.
The students were a part of the campus conservative group Turning Point USA @UIUC and write for the website Campus Reform.
Khan is countersuing the plaintiffs, seeking more than $50,000 in damages for “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and hate crimes.
He alleges that after the Trump protest, his Facebook page and university email address were posted online “at sites known to be supported by racists and hate-group supporters.”
This led to more than a dozen threatening emails or messages, Khan alleges, including many that mock his race and beliefs.
While the settlement would end the litigation between Nelson and the UI once approved by a judge, Khan’s countersuit continues.