Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment against eight pro-Palestinian activists accused of conspiring to run a criminal intimidation campaign against University of Michigan officials in an effort to force the school to cut financial ties with Israel. The indictment, made public on Wednesday, also details vandalism against companies operating in Michigan and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
“In America, we rule by law not by fear. These alleged threats and attempts to terrorise government officials, businesses and the Jewish Federation are anti-American,” said US Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. The document highlights several incidents including the placement of fake bloody corpses on the lawn of an elected university board member and the spray-painting of anti-Israel messages at the home of the then-university president, Santa Ono. The indictment states that activists marked their victims with symbols used by Hamas, such as red inverted triangles and red handprints.
Six of the eight individuals named in the indictment were expected to make initial appearances in federal court in Detroit on Wednesday. One person was arrested in Wisconsin, while another remains at large, according to Gina Balaya of the US Attorney’s office. The Associated Press could not immediately reach any of the defendants or their attorneys for comment.
The charges come amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests demanding that the University of Michigan’s endowment divest from companies with ties to Israel, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The university has stated it has no direct investments and less than $15m placed with funds that might include Israeli companies. The school and state officials have faced scrutiny for aggressive responses to student protests, including hiring private investigators to surveil activists.
The indictment represents one of the more aggressive federal prosecutorial actions against pro-Palestinian activists since the Israel-Hamas war began. While thousands of students have been arrested in protests nationwide, most charges have been brought at local or state levels and later dropped.
