Since 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned through the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, a movement known as abortion abolitionists has gained momentum and become progressively louder in the expression of its views. Like Operation Rescue in the late '80s, the individuals who identify with this movement have recently come into the crosshairs of law enforcement and are being arrested and jailed for their peaceful protests. Tyler Newton of Tampa Bay, Florida, is one of those abortion abolitionists, and with the help of Center for American Liberty, he is suing the University of South Florida (USF).
Top DOJ official's firm sues public university for arresting peaceful anti-abortion activist https://t.co/HoIUDq87fS
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) October 16, 2026
USF police arrested and jailed Tyler Newton for 14 hours on Sept. 23 at the behest of campus officials for standing with his sign and sharing his "abolitionist" views with passers-by, a new First Amendment lawsuit claims.
Describing Newton as a "disabled veteran who is medically retired" from the Army and has "committed himself to public advocacy and speech," the lawsuit says the taxpayer-funded university also banned Newton from campus for a year, preventing him from visiting his brother, a student, and he can't challenge the no-trespass order as a non-student.
The complaint is bound to get heightened attention because it was filed by the Center for American Liberty, founded and led by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon before her confirmation.
Dhillon's group apparently got involved quickly, since Newton posted a GiveSendGo fundraiser to cover his legal defense by Sept. 29 and had raised $875 as of Oct. 6 before hiding it. (The fundraiser still shows up in search results for his name and activism.)
Newton had also asked for donations in August so he could buy "recording equipment" to document his anti-abortion activism, having just returned to Florida with his wife and child, and it came in handy for his visit to USF last month.
“On Wednesday, September 23rd, I was arrested on USF public property in Tampa Bay while preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking against abortion” - Tyler Newton https://t.co/bNzfLcv4Qz
— Florida Abolitionist Society🍊 (@FLAbolitionists) September 29, 2026
Abortion abolitionists focus on outlawing abortion in toto, eschewing the incremental approach that traditional pro-life activists and organizations have employed. Part of abortion abolitionist strategy is to lobby state legislators to change the laws to recognize fetal personhood and criminalize not just abortion providers, but the female who aborts her child. So, they are at odds with the mainstream of pro-life advocacy.
But as Center for American Liberty CEO Mark Trammell explained, it should not matter what Newton was advocating for or whether you agree or disagree.
"This case is not about whether anyone agrees with Tyler's views on abortion," Center for American Liberty CEO Mark Trammell said. "The First Amendment means very little if public officials can have someone arrested simply because others would rather not hear his message."
The lawsuit also alleges USF is violating an eight-year-old state law that renders "outdoor areas of public universities that are generally open to members of the campus community" as "traditional public forums for everyone," preventing viewpoint-based regulation of expression.
USF hosts a weekly Bull Market, an open-air event in a publicly-held university space. However, USF has a policy that allows event organizers the right to exclude individuals or speech that it finds offensive.
The video captures Marshall Student Center Director Matt Marshall, who oversees the weekly Bull Market in the MSC plaza, telling Newton that event organizers don't want his "activity taking place during their event" and "they have that choice." Marshall is a defendant along with President Moez Limayem, USF Police Chief Chris Daniels and USF trustees.
Part of Newton's lawsuit is challenging this policy, and Newton's lengthy video documentation of the events leading up to his arrest will be used as part of the court proceedings.
Because of Newton's 46 minutes of continuous tripod footage documenting his interactions with students and campus officials and his arrest, plus the lawsuit's hard documentation of his arrest and no-trespass order, the litigation likely won't require a jury to resolve factual issues.
The lawsuit challenges USF policies that give event organizers the power to exclude individuals such as Newton from "stand[ing] peacefully in outdoor areas of a public university campus" and speaking their "conscience," claiming they violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments and state law and present "an ongoing and credible threat" to Newton's rights.
Newton's female partner informs him that an official told her, "We can't be here because the area's reserved" at the start of the 46-minute video. "Reserved for?" he responds incredulously. "These people think that we're dumb."
The next 20 minutes document Newton's style of activism, familiar to anyone who has encountered activists raising money for progressive organizations such as the ACLU on the street: asking passers-by for their thoughts and seeing who bites.
"Any opinions on abortion?" he asks a young woman four minutes in while leaning on his fetus sign, prompting a 16-minute talk that gradually heats up. "You're disgusting," she says while walking away, apparently noticing the recording equipment for the first time, and demands that he not post their conversation, at which point USF's Marshall shows up.
According to Marshall, the Bull Market event organizers did not "want this activity taking place within" their reservation, and that the organizers had the power to override Newton's First Amendment rights. Newton requested a temporary restraining order against USF being able to restrict his rights to peacefully protest at the Bull Market.
A hearing is scheduled for October 21.
U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven, nominated by President George W. Bush, ruled hours after the complaint and motion for TRO that "the 'recurring' nature" of the event means USF should first get "the opportunity to be heard and present defenses." She scheduled a two-hour evidentiary hearing for Oct. 21, during the first half of that day's Bull Market.
Our “AHA Tampa Bay” group has been SUPER active in engaging the culture! https://t.co/h8EPP4wwBH
— Florida Abolitionist Society🍊 (@FLAbolitionists) October 13, 2026
Whether you are in line with the abortion abolitionists' beliefs and aims, or you disagree with their approach, Newton and his fellow adherents are doing the hard work of keeping the abortion debate at the forefront. Too many who say they believe in life are asleep at the wheel, especially since the overturning of Roe. They are not aware that abortions have increased since the Dobbs decision. They forgot that many states and pro-life centers are still fighting the good fight to convince women to choose life, and most insidious: women are now their own abortionists. The ease of distribution through the mail of the abortion pill helps to make it so. When society is about to crash headlong off a cliff, bigger and more massive roadblocks are often necessary.
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