Contact: tahrircoalition@proton.me
JULY 17, 2025, ANN ARBOR, MI - At 10:00 am on Thurs., July 17, two Ann Arbor police officers were sent to the home of a TAHRIR Coalition organizer to serve a subpoena tied to the recent FBI raids on pro-Palestine activists’ homes. The subpoena was issued by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and orders the activist to appear at the Department of the AG for “questioning” on July 30. In April, Nessel, who publicly presents herself as a Trump opponent, collaborated with Trump’s FBI by requesting they conduct raids on four residences across Canton, Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor in collaboration with state and local law enforcement. During the raids, FBI agents and local police detained 9 individuals, confiscated electronics and personal items, and broke down the door at one residence to force entry after refusing to produce a warrant.
Two hours after the first July 17 visit, in West Bloomfield, “special agents” from Nessel’s office appeared at the family home of an activist who now lives out of state. Agents refused to identify their department or affiliation, and – despite admitting that they knew the organizer was not present at the home – interrogated a family member about their whereabouts. On July 18, a special agent left a voicemail with the family, revealing that they had a subpoena for the organizer and threatening potential retaliation from a judge if they were not able to deliver it. AG Nessel, in her continued collusion with the University of Michigan Board of Regents to criminalize protest demanding divestment, has vowed to “vigorously pursue charges” in a case of so-called “multijurisdictional vandalism” after being forced to drop all charges against UM activists in early May.
“Nessel’s efforts to intimidate, target, and silence pro-Palestine protesters have serious implications for every Michigander. If people cannot speak out freely against Israel’s ongoing human rights violations, genocide, and apartheid without facing governmental repression, then the freedom of speech of every person in Michigan is at risk,” said Liz Jacob, a staff attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. Sugar Law is representing organizers in ongoing civil cases against UofM’s repression of pro-Palestine activists.
These “home visits” are a continuation of the reactionary campaign to silence the mass movement for Palestinian liberation. Throughout the last 20+ months of ongoing genocide, starvation, and displacement, UM Regents have relentlessly targeted, repressed, and surveilled pro-Palestine protest through employing undercover investigators, criminal charges, firings, and more. Recently, Regents initiated a third round of disciplinary proceedings against students and alumni through the Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR) after once again failing to secure criminal charges and convictions for multiple pro-Palestine protests.
“This attempt to isolate individuals through intimidation is a clear ploy to fragment the mass movement for Palestinian liberation, divestment on campuses across the country, and the demand for a total arms embargo nationally. But as we have seen time and time again–from Mahmoud Khalil’s release from ICE detention to the charges Nessel was already forced to drop–repression only makes us stronger” said Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the University of Michigan. “We know that our power will always outweigh the state’s, and that as long as the people of Palestine remain undeterred in their fight for liberation and return, we will take inspiration from them and persist.”
Now, after countless defeats – from the forced termination of a contract for plainclothes security on campus, Nessel’s failed charges, and former UM President Santa Ono resigning – UM Regents, in collaboration with AG Nessel & Trump’s FBI, are desperate to silence dissent against their material support of genocide. We unequivocally condemn the UM Regents’ and Nessel’s attack on the popular struggle for Palestinian liberation, and remain unwavering in our demands regardless of repression and intimidation. Divest now!