Fake bloody corpses planted in a yard and anti-Israel messages spray-painted across a residence mark the center of a federal indictment unveiled on Friday.
Four New Defendants Face Federal Charges
Four additional people now face federal charges for participating in what investigators describe as a criminal intimidation campaign targeting University of Michigan officials. The objective of the campaign was to pressure the institution into cutting its financial ties to Israel, federal authorities announced on Friday.
The new indictment arrives nearly five months after eight other pro-Palestinian activists were initially charged with conspiracy.
A Series of Vandalism and Threats
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit, investigators have documented a series of coordinated threats and acts of vandalism directed at the private homes of university officials, local businesses, and the Jewish Federation of Detroit over the past several years.
Among the incidents highlighted in the federal filings are the placement of fake bloody corpses in the yard of a university board member. Investigators also pointed to the 2024 spray-painting of anti-Israel messages at the home of Santa Ono, who served as the university’s president at the time.
Arrests Made as Earlier Defendants Plead Not Guilty
Out of the four newly indicted defendants, federal agents arrested two individuals who are scheduled to make their initial court appearances on Friday. The remaining two defendants were not in custody, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit. Meanwhile, the eight individuals originally charged in the case back in June have entered pleas of not guilty.
“From Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas, those who terrorize Jews have been the bad guys. As Americans, our job is to fight the bad guys,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said.
Endowment Divestment Demands and Campus Unrest
The federal prosecutions unfold against a backdrop of campus unrest sparked by the Israel-Hamas war. Pro-Palestinian protesters have demanded that the University of Michigan’s endowment stop investing in companies with ties to Israel.
University officials have stated publicly that less than 0.1% of the total endowment is placed with funds that might include companies in Israel. The tensions reached a head on campus in 2024 when law enforcement cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment after a month, with the university citing it as a threat to public safety.
