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

CNN

25-04-2025

Authorities raided five homes in southeastern Michigan on Wednesday as part of a yearlong vandalism investigation into pro-Palestinian graffiti 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, though some were detained and later released, officials said.
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.
'These search warrants were not investigative of protest activity on the campus of the University of Michigan nor the Diag encampment; today's search warrants are in furtherance of our investigation into multijurisdictional acts of vandalism,' the attorney general's office told CNN Wednesday, adding that local, state and federal authorities were involved in the searches.
'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 two 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, told CNN Thursday that the individuals are being targeted for their pro-Palestinian beliefs.
'The students that were targeted appear to be those that UM officials believe are most active in on-campus protests - protests that have been loud at times…but which in no way can be characterized as violent or causing significant vandalism,' Philo said. 'Other than a shared viewpoint concerning Palestine, a real question exists as to why student campus protestors are being targeted or is that the point - because they are expressing that viewpoint on UM's campus.'
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 least one of the individuals was required to have a DNA sample taken, according to Philo.
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 multi-agency response to alleged vandalism was unwarranted.
'None of these students have any [history] of violence, none have prior criminal records, and none have been charged. They are 17-22 year olds and very much college students or recent grads,' Philo said. 'Why were three or more police agencies at every home? Why were they handcuffed during the searches?'