VICTORY: Pro-Palestine Advocates Defeat Baseless Lawsuit Targeting Right to Protest in Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 14th, 2025

Chicago, IL — On Thursday, August 7, 2025, a federal judge dismissed a frivolous SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuit against several civil and human rights advocates who protested for an end to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute filed the case in September 2024  in the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of Christopher Manhart. The suit targeted the April 15, 2024 Global Day of Action protest outside O’Hare International Airport in Chicago that was in solidarity with the Palestinian people. 

In the judicial opinion,  Judge Mary Rowland not only granted the Defendants’ motions to dismiss all counts, but also found that the suit was brought for “the improper purpose of harassment” of the defendant organizations and activists who advocate for the Palestinian people. As part of the ruling, the court granted sanctions against Plaintiff Manhart, entitling some of the defendants to pursue legal fees from Manhart.

SLAPP suits weaponize legal systems to silence political dissent, criticism, and intimidate journalists and activists. This SLAPP suit was a deliberate attempt by Manhart and Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute to silence and intimidate critics of the U.S. government’s support for Israel’s genocide and occupation of Palestine, by specifically targeting these protesters who allegedly participated in the April 2024 solidarity demonstrations.

This dismissal is a win for the movement for Palestinian liberation, in the face of a massive increase in repression. This blatant attempt to silence protest and speech for human rights was resoundingly unsuccessful and sets a powerful precedent for protecting the right to protest and sets a powerful precedent for protecting the right to protest.

Signed,

Jewish Voice for Peace
Dissenters
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Simone Tucker
Rifqa Falaneh
People’s Law Office, representing Jewish Voice for Peace