Judge Declines to Dismiss Piegaro Lawsuit Against Princeton, Campus Police

David Piegaro’s civil lawsuit against Princeton University and its top campus cop will proceed, federal Judge Zahid Quraishi wrote in a 29-page opinion Friday.

Piegaro, a former Princeton student and Jewish US Army veteran, sued the school and the cop, Kenneth E. Strother, Jr., for violating his civil rights in their harsh treatment of him when he wished to observe and document a 2024 protest in support of Gazans killed during Israel’s recent war with Hamas.  Among other charges, he said he had been arrested and barred from campus and false pretenses, and that Strother had thrown him down a flight of stairs.

Quraishi, a Muslim judge appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and a bronze-star veteran himself, wrote that, in spite of Princeton’s lawyer’s motion for dismissal, Piegaro meant his burden on nearly every count.  Enough video evidence and witness testimony supported Piegaro’s version of events that he deserved to present it in court.

"Plaintiff plausibly alleges that he was arrested without probable cause,'' the judge wrote. "Plaintiff also alleges that he was detained at DPS headquarters and remained detained while he sought medical treatment for his injuries. Such allegations are sufficient to state a claim for false arrest imprisonment." The judge also wrote that Piegaro "sufficiently pleads an excessive force claim against Strother" and "sufficiently pleads his malicious prosecution claim against both Strother and the Trustees."