Lawsuit for three Emory professors arrested at a 2024 campus protest

On April 25, 2024, Emory University called in the Atlanta Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol to disperse a protest on its campus, and 28 people were arrested. Three tenured professors who had come to the quad out of concern for their students and colleagues were among them: Noëlle McAfee, Professor of Philosophy; Emil’ Keme, Professor of English and Indigenous Studies; and Caroline Fohlin, Professor of Economics. Each was charged; every charge was later dismissed.

The complaint alleges that Emory, in violation of its own Respect for Open Expression Policy and as it had done before, chose to suppress speech with outside police, then kept the prosecutions going even when video showed the charged offenses did not happen. It brings claims including false imprisonment and seeks accountability, reimbursement of the professors’ legal defense costs, and damages.

The case is pending.