Gaza protesters sue Detroit over free speech at Campus Martius Park

DETROIT (FOX 2) - As the city gets ready for Detroit's tree lighting at Campus Martius, there's a battle over free speech during the holiday season.

Eman Naga from the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at University of Michigan joined the ‘Ceasefire Choir,’ singing for peace, and an end to the war in Gaza. Video that can be viewed above showed the choir in 2023 at Campus Martius Park.

"We wish for the liberation of the Palestinian nation, an end to the occupation and a Happy New Year," they sang. 

Naga is a student attorney at UM law school. They have filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Detroit and security at Campus Martius Park.

"Forty minutes in, they were taken aside. A security guard told them, hey, you can't be here. Your message is too controversial. You know this is a family-friendly space, and the messaging that you're giving is too controversial. This is a private park, you have to go," said Naga. "First amendment lays out that in public spaces, such as Campus Martius, which is a public park, actually named the number one public square by USA Today. In those types of spaces, it's really critical to have people be able to practice their first amendment rights, especially on issues of public importance."

Naga says the ceasefire Choir tried to do just that, and returned to campus martius in January 2024. Again they were turned away. They want to sing again for the 2024 holiday season. 

The tragedy in Gaza has only worsened. 44,000 people have been killed there, and the war has expanded to Lebanon. Naga says this isn't the first time protesters have filed a lawsuit to exercise their first amendment rights in Campus Martius.

"It's actually an insane case because the ordinance spells out so clearly that our clients had a right to be in that space," she said. 

The City of Detroit declined to comment on the federal lawsuit, saying they will respond in court. It is not clear if the Ceasefire Choir will be back before that.

"It's the holiday season back again. They are still staunch believers in the same message, so they hope to be able to go back to the park, which is why we initiated the lawsuit so they could do so freely," she said. "We hope to have them singing there soon."