Hawai'i Community College: Political Activist Banned from Campus for Collecting Petition Signatures

On several occasions in the spring of 2026, Austin Martin, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Hawaii and state chair of Young Americans for Liberty, went to Hawai‘i Community College’s Hilo campus to collect signatures for a petition urging the University of Hawai‘i system to permit students to carry pepper spray for self-defense. In March and April, campus security removed Martin from campus on three occasions and ultimately issued him a one-year trespass warning based on an erroneous and unconstitutional interpretation of the university system’s solicitation policy. 

On July 8, FIRE wrote the college administrators, urging them to immediately rescind the trespass warning.