APRIL 23, ANN ARBOR, MI - Between 6:00 am to 9:00 am on Wednesday, April 23rd, FBI agents, the Michigan State Police, and local police officers, at the behest of Attorney General Dana Nessel, arrived in unmarked vehicles at the homes of University of Michigan pro-Palestine activists across residences in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Canton.
The FBI and Ann Arbor Police Department officers confiscated electronics and questioned and detained two individuals, who were later released from their Ann Arbor residence. Officers from the Michigan State Police, the FBI, and the Plymouth Police Department raided an Ypsilanti residence, confiscating personal belongings and detaining three individuals, who were later released. The Canton Police Department, Michigan State Police, University of Michigan Police Department, and FBI raided another residence in Canton, MI, confiscating electronics and belongings, detaining and releasing four residents.
After stalling when asked to produce warrants during the Ypsilanti raid, local and federal officers presented unusual warrants from the Office of the Attorney General that did not identify probable cause for any alleged crime. When Ypsilanti city officials asked questions, the FBI refused to answer them, instead referring them to Dana Nessel’s office. When contacted by the press, Nessel later claimed to be investigating “multi-jurisdictional” vandalism, although no actual instances of vandalism were cited nor were any jurisdictions named.
“Dana Nessel frames herself as a democratic bulwark against the Trump Administration, yet has demonstrated continuous collaboration with Trump’s federal government to repress the popular movement for Palestinian liberation. Nessel’s irresponsible conduct has already endangered Michigan residents, putting them in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant and anti-democratic assaults. On April 6 at the Detroit airport, federal agents questioned and harassed Amir Makled, an Arab-American NLG lawyer representing one of the U-M Encampment 11. This joint escalation by Nessel, the FBI, State and local police is a clear attempt to intimidate protestors and attack their constitutional right to freedom of speech,” said Liz Jacob, attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice.
These raids represent the latest in an alarming series of escalations, spanning more than a year of repression against pro-Palestine activists and their allies at the U-M, and increasingly across the state of Michigan. Since November 17th, 2023, over 56 pro Palestinian activists have been arrested at the behest of the U-M Board of Regents, for protesting the university’s investments in weapons manufacturers complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the zionist apartheid economy. These charges include the “highly unusual” ongoing prosecution by AG Nessel’s office, against 12 U-M pro-Palestine protesters at the behest of U-M Regents, many of whom are financial contributors to her political campaign.
Coupled with President Ono and the U-M Regents’ repeated targeting of pro-Palestine activists through unjust firings, academic disciplinary measures against students and organizations, and criminal prosecution, Nessel and the regents are facilitating the Trump administration’s escalating attacks on higher education. We condemn the U-M Regents’ and Dana Nessel’s attack on the movement for divestment from “israel,” deliberately furthering the Trump administration’s assault on higher education. We call on all those who stand for justice to speak out against state repression of solidarity with Palestine. Divest now!
Press inquiries: tahrircoalition@gmail.com
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