University of Michigan drops private security after reports of surveillance
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The University of Michigan said it's cutting ties with a private security company that was accused of following pro-Palestinian activists on and off campus.
The university said it found the actions of one security company employee 'disturbing, unacceptable and unethical.' It did not elaborate.
'Going forward, we are terminating all contracts with external vendors to provide plainclothes security on campus,' President Domenico Grasso said in a statement Sunday.
In a Guardian story last week, students said they were surveilled around Ann Arbor. The news outlet posted video from a member of a Muslim group who decided to confront a man who was watching him from a car last summer. That man in turn yelled and accused him of trying to steal his wallet.
Tensions have been high between the university and pro-Palestinian student groups. A student encampment stood for a month on campus last year before authorities shut it down citing safety issues.
Seven people were charged with felonies related to the encampment's removal, though charges were dropped in May.
The university, which has campus police, said it hired private security about a year ago to report suspicious activity in high-traffic areas, not to perform surveillance.
'No individual or group should ever be targeted for their beliefs or affiliations,' Grasso said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
39 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Pulse massacre survivors revisit the nightclub before it's razed for a permanent memorial
ORLANDO, Fla. — Survivors and family members of the 49 victims killed in the Pulse nightclub massacre nine years ago got their first chance Wednesday to walk through the long-shuttered, LGBTQ+-friendly Florida venue before it is razed and replaced with a permanent memorial to what was once the worst U.S. mass shooting in modern times. In small groups over four days, survivors and family members of those killed can spend half an hour inside the space where Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed after a three-hour standoff with police. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The Pulse shooting's death toll was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 were injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas. The city of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2 million and plans to build a $12 million permanent memorial that will open in 2027. Those efforts follow a multiyear, botched attempt by a private foundation run by the club's former owner. The existing structure will be razed later this year. Christine Leinonen, whose son, Christopher 'Drew' Leinonen was killed in the mass shooting, was among the first groups to go inside the club on Wednesday. Leinonen, who has been a fierce critic of the police response, the investigation into the mass shooting and the nightclub's owner, said she wanted to see the space where her son died. 'It's not closure. It's pragmatic for me because I needed to see the space. I needed to see how big it was,' Leinonen said afterward. 'I would have regretted it if I didn't go through it.' The opportunity to go inside the nightclub comes on the ninth anniversary of the mass shooting. Outside, oversize photos of the victims, rainbow-colored flags and flowers have hung on fences in a makeshift memorial, and the site has attracted visitors from around the globe. But very few people other than investigators have been inside the structure. Around 250 survivors and family members of those killed responded to the city's invitation to walk through the nightclub this week. Families of the 49 people who were killed were able to visit the site with up to six people in their group, and survivors could bring one person with them. The club had been cleaned and lighting has been installed ahead of the walk-throughs. The people invited to visit were given the chance to ask FBI agents who investigated the massacre about what happened. They weren't allowed to take photos or video inside. On Wednesday, a security screen shielded the entrance to the club as the visitors got off a small bus and walked into a white tent at the venue's entrance. Some of those who had planned to come backed out at the last minute. Brandon Wolf, who hid in a bathroom as the gunman opened fire, said he wasn't going to visit, primarily because he now lives in Washington. He said he wanted to remember Pulse as it was before. 'I will say that the site of the tragedy is where I feel closest to the people who were stolen from me,' said Wolf, who is now national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, a LGBTQ+ advocacy group. 'For survivors, the last time they were in that space was the worst night possible. It will be really hard to be in that space again.' Mental health counselors planned to be on hand to talk to those who walk through the building. Survivors and family members had hoped to have a permanent memorial in place by now. An earlier effort by a private foundation to build one floundered, and the organization disbanded in 2023. Barbara and Rosario Poma and business owner Michael Panaggio previously owned the property, and Barbara Poma was the executive director of the onePulse Foundation — the nonprofit that had been leading efforts to build a memorial and museum. She stepped down as executive director in 2022 and then left the organization in 2023 amid criticism that she wanted to sell instead of donate the property. There were also complaints about the lack of progress despite millions of dollars being raised. The original project, unveiled in 2019 by the onePulse Foundation, called for a museum and permanent memorial costing $45 million. That estimate eventually soared to $100 million. The city of Orlando has since outlined a more modest proposal and scrapped plans for a museum. 'The building may come down, and we may finally get a permanent memorial, but that doesn't change the fact that this community has been scarred for life,' Wolf said. 'There are people inside the community who still need and will continue to need support and resources.' ___ Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @ .
CBS News
41 minutes ago
- CBS News
Wilmington developer names new affordable housing project after late nephew killed in drunken driving crash
Community members gathered in Wilmington, Delaware, Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of what will soon be 14 new affordable townhomes. The project will be located in the city's Northside community. "I grew up in the city of Wilmington. I was born here," Donald Thompson said. Thompson is the founder of Truth in Actions Inc., the company behind the project. "It feels great to give back to my home, my community, my city," he said. For Thompson, the project is deeply personal. Thompson is calling it Raw Story Drive, in honor of his late nephew, Rick Anthony Williams, who was hit and killed at age 22 by a drunken driver in 2017. "To me, it's a proud moment for the housing, but a sad moment," Thompson said. "To me, this is a consolation. I would rather have him here and to be able to be there for him ... like he was for me. ... This is a consolation, this is something I'm doing in lieu of. I would rather him be here." "Rick, he was really an angel on earth," said Coretta Williams, Rick's mother and Thompson's sister. Williams says her son had a giving spirit, and she called this project a great way to honor his life. "I think that it's awesome. I think that it shows forth what we all should be doing, and that's trying to help. Trying to give," she said. Wilmington City Council President Trippi Congo said the area needs more affordable housing and this project fills a critical gap. "Of course, they help financially, but I think it's so much bigger than that. They help breathe a new spirit, a new life into the city," he said. The project is expected to be completed by 2027.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
ICE rejected Mahmoud Khalil's request to be detained closer to newborn son, emails show
After nearly three months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil made a request to move closer to his family. ICE denied it last week, according to emails reviewed Wednesday by NBC News. Khalil's legal team asked in late May that he be transferred to a detention center in New Jersey to be closer to his wife and newborn son. He has been held in a Louisiana ICE facility since March. ICE's policy requires detaining noncitizen parents or legal guardians, who are primary caretakers or have custody of minor children, in facilities close to their children The New Orleans ICE Field Office wrote that Khalil did not fall under the agency policy's criteria and denied the request without explanation, according to the emails. 'I am declining your request that Mr. Khalil be transferred from the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana to a detention center in New Jersey,' an official wrote. Nora Ahmed, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which is part of Khalil's legal team, called the decision 'cruel.' 'ICE's directive recognizes that the government should have no role in destroying the family unit, and yet that is exactly what is happening here,' Ahmed said. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment on the emails. Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, gave birth to the couple's son in April. Citing the ICE policy, his legal team reached out to the New Orleans office in hope of getting him moved. The directive, issued in 2022, considers detained parents who have custody of their children as 'covered individuals' under the policy. It stipulates that covered individuals must be placed 'as close as practicable' to their minor children. It also requires ICE personnel to accommodate regular visitation between covered individuals and their minor children. 'There is no possible justification to detain Mr. Khalil at such a great distance from his minor child, in violation of ICE's own policy, when ICE maintains numerous detention facilities within driving distance of where Mr. Khalil's wife and infant son reside in New York City,' Khalil's counsel wrote in an email to the New Orleans ICE office. In an email to Khalil's legal counsel, an official at the New Orleans ICE office said he did not qualify as a covered individual. Khalil, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and was granted permanent U.S. resident status last year, became a widely recognized activist amid the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year. In March, he was abruptly arrested outside his student housing on campus and detained before being the Trump administration accused him of leading 'activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.' He has not been charged with any crime. ICE previously rejected Khalil's request to attend his son's birth, court documents show. 'The most immediate and visceral harms I have experienced directly relate to the birth of my son, Deen. Instead of holding my wife's hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone,' Khalil said in a legal filing last week. Khalil met his son for the first time last month, his attorneys said, just before an immigration hearing. This article was originally published on
