APRIL 25TH, 2025 ANN ARBOR, MI - Yesterday, during a motion hearing at the 14A - 1 District Court in Washtenaw County, Judge Cedric J. Simpson sentenced a defendant from the UMich Encampment 11 (E11) to four days in jail. MI State Attorney General Dana Nessel had originally sought a 10-day sentence—the maximum allowed for a bond violation. The defendant, a senior at the University of Michigan, has not been convicted of any crime, but was alleged to have violated the conditions of their bond by being on the University campus between their classes. This alleged violation was reported by City Shield, a private security company contracted by the University of Michigan for approximately $850,000 for the purpose of surveilling pro-Palestine activists. The defendant’s attorney affirmed that the conditions of their bond—which, in part, ban this student from the U-M campus [with the exception of attending their classes—]were not violated. The defendant was neither seen nor stopped by campus police or university administrators during the alleged bond violation. Following their release, the E11 defendant will be required to wear a GPS ankle monitor to track their location until their graduation ceremony on May 3rd. Instead of spending these final days of their undergraduate journey with friends, family, and the campus community they cherish, they have been forced to spend them alone in a jail cell.
The circumstances of the alleged bond violation clearly do not warrant the punishment of jail time. District Judge Simpson chastised the defendant for allegedly violating their bond conditions, berating them with insults to their intelligence and accusing the student of ill intent for being on campus between classes. This comes immediately before the students’ graduation ceremonies, jailing them amidst their final examinations, dissertation deadline, and commencement activities. The student is set to be released on Sunday, April 27th, at 8:00 AM.
This extreme punishment follows FBI raids of pro-Palestine activists’ homes, ordered by MI AG Dana Nessel on the morning of April 23rd. This is part of a larger, escalating trend of criminalization occurring within institutions of higher education across the country. As demonstrated by the recent kidnapping and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, and others for their pro-Palestine speech, the University of Michigan Board of Regents and State AG Dana Nessel endorse the same carceral punishment campaigns against those opposing complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
The TAHRIR Coalition will hold a rally in support of the E11 defendant on the morning of their release, Sunday, April 27th, at 7:00 AM. Donations to support the defendant’s legal costs should be directed to the Legal Fund of Michigan Students for Palestine.