{"id":454,"date":"2026-06-12T20:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T20:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=454"},"modified":"2026-06-12T20:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T20:39:34","slug":"justice-department-targets-michigan-palestine-solidarity-activists-with-federal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=454","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department Targets Michigan Palestine Solidarity Activists With Federal Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with <\/span><\/i>a donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read more The New School Guts Faculty and Staff as Higher Ed Intensifies Austerity<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Eight activists are facing federal charges for their Palestine solidarity activism in Michigan. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning, the FBI raided the homes of seven of the activists, and prosecutors unsealed an indictment against them and another activist following their arrest. The federal government is charging the activists \u2013 most of whom attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor \u2013 with carrying out a \u201ccriminal intimidation campaign\u201d against university administrators in an attempt to push the university to divest from Israel. <\/p>\n

The charges mark an escalation in the Trump administration\u2019s attacks on Palestine solidarity activism, and civil rights groups warn that they veer into attacks on free speech. <\/p>\n

The indictment details instances including the activists placing fake corpses on a university board member\u2019s lawn, and spray painting pro-Palestine messages at the home of the university\u2019s then-president. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe subjects allegedly vandalized the victims\u2019 property, spray painted their homes with messages like \u2018Intifada\u2019 and \u2018Free Palestine,\u2019 left threatening notes on their doors, and even broke windows of the victims\u2019 homes \u2014 throwing glass jars filled with chemicals while children slept inside,\u201d FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X on Wednesday. The chemicals named were paints and butyric acid, a foul-smelling substance found in butter. <\/p>\n

The felony charges carry the possibility of years in prison. <\/p>\n

Student activists at the University of Michigan have been calling for the university to divest from Israel since at least 2002. But since Israel launched its U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza in 2023, the University of Michigan has taken harsh action against student activists in solidarity with Palestine. <\/p>\n

In 2024, the university recruited the state attorney general, Dana Nessel \u2013 a Democrat \u2013 to bring state charges against the student protesters after local prosecutors had dismissed most of the charges. This was considered an unprecedented escalation against protesters. Last April, Nessel collaborated with President Donald Trump\u2019s FBI in raids of homes of Palestine solidarity protesters, claiming that it was investigating them for vandalism. <\/p>\n

Read more Nearly 100 Billionaires Donate to Susan Collins in Race That May Decide Senate Control<\/a><\/p>\n

And last June, The Guardian <\/em>found that the university was using private investigators to surveil pro-Palestine student activists. Undercover investigators were following the students, recording them, and threatening them \u2013 and the university spent at least $800,000 hiring these investigators from a private security group. <\/p>\n

At a rally at the University of Michigan in January against charges brought against activist students, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) called out the surveillance and targeting of students. \u201cWhy do we need ICE when we have the University of Michigan?\u201d she said, highlighting the severity of the university\u2019s repressive tactics. <\/p>\n

But the felony charges released Wednesday mark another escalation in the University of Michigan\u2019s \u2014 and Trump\u2019s \u2014 attacks on Palestine solidarity activism. <\/p>\n

The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the felony charges are an attempt to \u201cchill speech on campuses.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of one\u2019s views on the underlying issues, students do not lose their First Amendment rights because their speech is controversial or unpopular,\u201d Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR-Michigan, said in a statement. \u201cWe are concerned by any prosecutorial approach that appears to broaden criminal allegations by incorporating lawful advocacy and political expression into the narrative.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cEqually troubling is the apparent reliance on or discussion of the students\u2019 participation in lawful political speech and peaceful advocacy, including calls for divestment, expressions of solidarity with Palestinians, criticism of government policies, and advocacy for Palestinian human rights,\u201d the CAIR statement added. \u201cThese forms of expression occupy the highest level of protection under the First Amendment and have long been recognized as core political speech in our constitutional tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Philo of the Detroit-based Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice told the Michigan Public that the charges are a specific attack on Palestine solidarity. \u201cThey\u2019re not going after the fact of spray painting,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re going after the fact that it says \u2018Free Palestine.\u2019\u201d He questioned why charges of vandalism have been escalated to conspiracy charges. <\/p>\n

Read more Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The charges follow escalating repression by the University of Michigan against pro-Palestine students since 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nJustice Department Targets Michigan Palestine Solidarity Activists With Federal Charges - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=454\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Justice Department Targets Michigan Palestine Solidarity Activists With Federal Charges - 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