University of Texas at Austin professor Richard Heyman was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety last Wednesday, more than a week after he had been accused of grabbing a Department of Public Safety trooper’s bicycle and yelling expletives during an April 29 pro-Hamas protest. The university subsequently fired Heyman this week, according to his lawyer.
DPS has shared body camera video which they say shows the incident with UT Prof. Richard Heyman at protests on May 8. It is rife with expletives that say a lot about the manners of woke educators in America these days — so much so that we cannot embed it here. Here is the link, but if you are sensitive to extremely bad language from professors wearing shorts, DO NOT CLICK HERE.
Gerry Morris, Heyman’s lawyer, disputed law enforcement’s characterization of Heyman’s actions, stating the evidence contradicts the accusations against him.
Heyman, who had worked at UT for nearly 18 years as a lecturer in the liberal arts and architecture departments, was charged with interfering with public duties. This Class B misdemeanor carries a potential fine of up to $2,000 and a maximum jail sentence of 180 days.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Heyman allegedly approached state troopers and yelled profanities in their faces, saying, “[Expletive] you, you don’t belong here!” as police began advancing on the protesters in the encampment on the university’s South Mall. The trooper wrote that Heyman tried to pull his bike away, and “broke my state-issued bike bell (cost $62).”
Attorney Morris insisted the officer pushed his client “and he was falling back and he grabbed the handlebars … to keep from falling over.” He said Heyman “didn’t voluntarily grab the bicycle in some sort of attempt to obstruct the officer’s performance of his duties.”
In an email to JewishPress.com, Heyman claims he was “not even part of the protesters, just an interested bystander.”
Morris told Inside Higher Ed that, if this had been a pro-Israel rally, “they would have been out there serving them refreshments.”
A UT Austin spokesman would not confirm Heyman’s firing, saying, “In general, we don’t comment on personnel matters,” but according to The Texas Tribune, “The university fired Heyman on Thursday through an email.”
Heyman was scheduled to teach three classes in the fall semester.
We hear the University of Gaza in Khan Younis is hiring.
