A first aid organization was forced to leave the University campus on Thursday during a student protest at the Main Mall after they claimed University employees warned a non-UT-affiliated member they would face criminal trespassing charges if they did not leave the demonstration, according to a press release.
Street Medics Austin, a volunteer organization that provides first aid at demonstrations and disasters, sent 11 members to the Main Mall during a protest organized by the Austin chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, who requested the medics to come. The alleged incident came after the Campus Protection Act went into effect on Monday, which restricted UT-affiliated individuals from engaging in expressive activity in common outdoor areas.
The volunteers arrived around 4:30 p.m., and five minutes later, two employees from the Office of the Dean of Students asked them for UT identification while the group prepared equipment and plans, said the incident commander, who requested anonymity. All but one member, the dispatch’s incident commander, were UT students, they said.
Street Medics Austin said the University employees warned they would call law enforcement to arrest and ban the commander from campus if they did not leave campus property. By about 4:45 p.m., the whole dispatch, including the commander, left campus property, the commander said.
“It wasn’t really until later did it hit me that that’s what had happened,” the incident commander said. “I tend to be pretty compliant myself in order to maintain those kinds of good relationships. It did make me feel pretty uncomfortable that they jumped to threatening me so quickly.”
When asked for confirmation, a University spokesperson said they could not confirm the interaction. However, the spokesperson shared a section of UT’s updated free speech policy, which was updated to comply with the Campus Protection Act, on why something like this incident could occur. According to the policy, “staff organizations may not invite the public at large to events in the Common Outdoor Areas.”
In the organization, incident commanders work as a leader of a dispatch, or a group of other volunteers and members at events, the commander said. Although the incident commander was the only member of the dispatch asked to leave, due to safety concerns, the whole group left campus property, said Julia Heilrayne, vice president of the board of directors at Street Medics Austin.
However, Heilrayne said the organization is apolitical and aims to provide first aid to all individuals.
“What we always say is that we’re going to triage and treat based on medical need, not political belief, and we’ll show up to any event that we’re requested for that we have the volunteers for,” Heilrayne said.
Following the University’s response to their presence at Thursday’s protest, Street Medics Austin will pause deployments on campus and instead provide first aid medical help to public areas adjacent to University property, according to the press release.
Currently, the organization is calling for the UT community, and anyone else who has received help from the organization, to contact the Dean of Students’ office for support.
“We are always here to support you,” the incident commander said. “We have been doing this for years, and we’re hoping to have a little bit of support in return. What we do is for the love of the community, for the love of people and we will always be providing free care whenever we can.”
