Authorities raid 5 Michigan homes amid yearlong vandalism investigation into pro-Palestinian graffiti

Yahoo

25-04-2025

Authorities raided five homes in southeastern Michigan on Wednesday as part of a yearlong investigation into pro-Palestinian vandalism targeting the homes of University of Michigan officials and others.
Search warrants, authorized by a Michigan state court, were executed in Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti, according to a Thursday news release from the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The individuals whose homes were searched were not arrested, officials said. Two University of Michigan student organizations claim six were detained and later released.
The search warrants were executed as part of the Michigan Department of Attorney General's investigation into at least 12 'coordinated and related' acts of vandalism and property damage that occurred in multiple Michigan counties between approximately February 2024 through March 2025, officials said. The estimated cost of the damage is about $100,000, according to authorities.
'Political slogans or messages' were placed at every vandalized site, the attorney general's office said. Graffiti displayed pro-Palestinian messages at most of the sites, photos show.
Several University of Michigan administrators were among those targeted.
The home of Erik Lundberg, the university's chief investment officer, was vandalized with the words 'Divest' and 'Free Palestine.' University of Michigan President Santa Ono's home was vandalized with graffiti that included the word 'intifada' in part. The home of Jordan Acker, a member of the university's Board of Regents, was also damaged – with a window broken and the words 'Free Palestine' written on his car. His law firm was also vandalized with pro-Palestinian language. Photos of provost Laurie McCauley's home likewise show shattered glass and the words 'No honor in genocide' graffitied on her fence.
No charges have been filed against any of the people whose homes were searched, authorities said. The attorney general's office did not identify any suspects in the investigation.
'The University of Michigan condemns these criminal acts in the strongest possible terms,' the school said in a December statement after Acker's home was vandalized. 'They are abhorrent and, unfortunately, just the latest in a number of incidents where individuals have been harassed because of their work on behalf of the university. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.'
The Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, which is representing some of the individuals whose homes were raided, said most are University of Michigan students. When asked about the vandalism at Acker's home, the lawyers denied that their clients were involved.
John Philo, the legal director at the law center, said the raids are a testament to the 'state attorney general's cooperation with the Trump administration's FBI to target student protesters who advocate a particular viewpoint - for their school's divestment from Israel.'
The incidents followed months of tensions between the university's administration and pro-Palestinian students who had in 2024 demanded university leaders divest from Israel amid its war in Gaza.
Other instances of vandalism and property damage occurred at the Jewish Federation of Detroit, an officer's home, a country club, a car dealership, an office and the historic Wilcox House, according to the attorney general's office.
The alleged vandalisms were committed in the middle of the night, and in one instance, children were sleeping at a residence but were awoken, according to the attorney general's office. Windows were smashed in several cases and 'noxious chemical substances were propelled' into homes on two occasions.
The TAHRIR Coalition, a pro-Palestinian student organization at the University of Michigan, said FBI agents, the Michigan State Police and local police officers detained but later released six activists whose homes were searched in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Personal belongings and electronics were also confiscated, according to the organization. At a third residence in Canton, no individuals were detained.
At one of the homes searched Wednesday, police forcibly entered after they negotiated entry for more than an hour to satisfy the search warrant, the attorney general's office said.
Graduate Employees' Organization, a union representing graduate workers at the University of Michigan, said one of its members was among those detained and released and 'executors of the search warrants were reluctant to reveal their warrants or their reason for visiting these activists.'
'We strongly condemn the actions taken today and all past and present repression of political activism,' the union said in a news release. 'We urge University of Michigan administrators, the Regents of the University of Michigan, and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to end their campaign against students and stop putting graduate workers in harm's way.'
Philo said that the alleged vandalism 'may be a misdemeanor under city, county, and/or state law.'
'Unless there are some unknown pool of facts, the vandalism that is alleged to have occurred at this point (spray painting/use of markers with water soluble materials) is far less than occurs on any given football weekend in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, or other college community,' he said. 'While nothing anyone would endorse, [the alleged vandalism] does not seem to warrant the scope and scale of FBI, State Police, and local law enforcement activity that occurred this morning.'