FBI Raids Detroit Area Pro-Palestinian Activists' Homes In $100K Vandalism Investigation

SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN — Officers raided multiple homes across southeastern Michigan on Wednesday in connection with several acts of vandalism against Jewish and non-Jewish officials and businesses, according to the Michigan Attorney General's Office.

Officers targeted a total of five homes in Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti, officials said.

At one home, officers had to force their way inside after individuals at the home refused to cooperate with officers, officials said.

Officials said the raids come as part of a year-long investigation into "coordinated criminal acts of vandalism and property damage occurring in multiple counties in southeastern Michigan."

Officials listed 12 locations where the vandalism occurred, including Romulus, Plymouth, Novi and Ann Arbor. Officials said the vandals caused roughly $100,000 in damages.

"In each of the cases, the crimes were committed in the middle of the night and in one case upon a residence wherein children were sleeping and awoken," officials said. "In multiple instances, windows were smashed, and twice noxious chemical substances were propelled into homes. At every site, political slogans or messages were left behind."

One of the incidents included University of Michigan President Santa Ono's, whose Oakland County home was spray-painted with messages including "Divest Now" and "intifada," officials said.

There were no arrests and no charges were filed, as the investigation continues, officials said.

The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said officers targeted the homes of UM students and former students who were involved in pro-Palestinian activities. The group also said officers damaged property and handcuffed individuals at the homes without charges.

"We call into question the aggressive nature of this morning’s raids of activists’ homes, which follows the recent misuse of prosecutorial power in Michigan and throughout our country against pro-Palestinian activists," said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid. “In any other context, such minor infractions would be handled by local law enforcement or referred to local, elected prosecutors, not escalated to federal intervention. This disproportionate response further fuels the perception that Muslim and Arab students, and those who stand in solidarity with them, are being treated overly hostile by law enforcement compared to those who commit harm toward American Muslims."

Last November, officials charged 11 people in connection with protests at the campus that happened last April. Seven of them were charged with resisting and obstructing police (two-year felony). They all pleaded not guilty.

Those arrests came after police cleared an encampment on the University of Michigan Diag where the protesters demanded the school divest itself from Israeli companies amid Israel's war with Hamas.

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