The American Civil Liberties Union is teaming with influencer and former Ohio State University student Guy Christiansen to sue the school for expelling him for a video post that appeared to celebrate the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers.
The staffers, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, were shot to death in Washington, D.C. on May 21 by a man chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. Their murders sparked debate about antisemitism and political violence in America. Suspect Elias Rodriguez is also facing federal charges in the case.
The ACLU announced the suit via a Wednesday night press release.
“Senior Trump administration officials threatened to investigate Mr. Christensen, and his critics urged the University to take disciplinary action,” the press release stated. “By expelling Mr. Christensen, Ohio State University—the third largest public university in the United States—has dangerously capitulated to the Trump Administration’s broad program of extreme, and selective, repression of First Amendment activity on college campuses.”
Christiansen initially condemned the murders in a video posted the morning after the couple was fatally shot. Later that same day, however, Christiansen released another video.
“I take it back. I do not condemn the elimination of those two Zionist officials who worked at the Israeli Embassy last night,” Christiansen said. “And you cannot expect to do such a thing in this world without the people standing up to fight to stop you in any way they can. To resist against you. And that is exactly what happened. Do not let yourself be fooled by the media, by the Zionists in this country who are telling you that this was an antisemitic terrorist attack. It was not,” he added.
“And I want to remind you that while this attack took the lives of two human beings, Israel has murdered thousands of Palestinian civilians in cold blood without any shame, with pride, rejoicing in the streets of Israel over this, and they get no attention in this country. While this attack is being used to weaponize violence against the movement. But we will meet it with our own greater resistance and
escalation,” Christiansen also said.
Christiansen shared the nearly 9-minute video to his TikTok and Substack addressing “How Elias Rodriguez Was A Normal Reaction To Genocide.”
The press release from the ACLU and lawsuit claim that Christensen did not engage in violence nor direct others to do so, and that he also did not reference Ohio State in any way.
“The videos and speech do not incite or threaten unlawful violence, and the action taken by the University to single out a particular viewpoint for censorship and punishment is unconstitutional,” the press release stated.
Pro-Israel outlets did not seem to be of the same mind as the ACLU. JFeed published a piece on May 22, “Words Can Kill: TikTok’s Guy Christensen and the Murder of Two Jews in D.C.,” and The Algemeiner publishing a blog post on May 29, “Guy Christensen: The Gen-Z TikTok Star Inciting His 3.4 Million Followers to Murder ‘Zionists.’”
Stop Antisemitism also flagged Christiansen’s remarks over X, tagging members of the Department of Justice, including Leo Terrell, the chair of the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
Terrell responded with a quoted repost that they will “review all leads.” The DOJ declined to comment on the lawsuit against Ohio State.
Rodriguez’s alleged actions were also justified by the Palestinian activist group Tariq El-Tahrir in a letter not long after the murders occurred, with the Democratic Socialists of America Liberation Caucus signing on.
Christiansen, in another video from May 22, also went after Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.
“Now Ritchie, screenshots are forever and what you’ve said and done will haunt your family for eternity as
you will eventually, if you’re still alive, end up in a Nuremburg trial for all the elected officials in America who facilitated and protected this genocide,” Christiansen said in part.
“He has an open arrest warrant against him from the [International Criminal Court]. But we don’t talk about that. Ritchie’s going to keep on meeting and [committing sex acts upon] the Zionist officials who are wanted for war crimes. So, shame on Ritchie. He is a Zionist scumbag. And I hope that the money he sleeps on at night stains his pajamas blood red,” Christiansen continued.
Christiansen also referred to the congressman, who is black, as “our boy in the South Bronx.”
The ACLU is asking the court to “1) declare that Mr. Christensen’s speech was protected by the First Amendment and that his disenrollment was a violation of his right to free speech; 2) declare that Ohio State’s choice to deny him any hearing was a violation of his due process rights; and 3) order the University to expunge any student records that indicate that he violated the Code of Student Conduct, committed any disciplinary infraction, or presented any risk to university safety.”
The Columbus Dispatch, in covering the lawsuit, noted that “Ohio State University declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said the university is committed to protecting the freedom of speech and expression.”
The Daily Signal also reached out to Ohio State for comment about the lawsuit.
