A University of Illinois instructor smashed a student's cellphone and got in his face and the school suspended the student.

That happened in 2017, as previously reported by Campus Reform. The now-former student, Joel Valdez, was one of several individuals who stood behind President Donald Trump as he signed an executive order intended to withdraw federal research funding from universities that do not support free speech. The executive order came about one month after conservative Hayden Williams, an employee of Campus Reform's parent organization, the Leadership Institute, was punched in the face while helping conservative student groups recruit new members.

"It's really hard for me to understand this concept of a university instructor attacks me and I get disciplined for it and he still gets to be teaching at the university."

Following the 2017 incident, Valdez, along with two other conservative students, sued their university for violating their constitutional rights. Valdez joined Fox & Friends Wednesday to discuss his lawsuit, the 2017 incident, and more. During the segment, Valdez said it's confusing to him how an instructor gets in a student's face, slams his phone to the ground, and then keeps his job while the student faces consequences.

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"Instead of the university standing up for students like myself and standing against political violence by their own employees, they decided to hit us with multiple disciplinary charges," Valdez said. "What they did was they responded to an attack on free speech with another attack on free speech."

"It's really hard for me to understand this concept of a university instructor attacks me and I get disciplined for it and he still gets to be teaching at the university," Valdez added.

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