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Friday, October 30, 2026
4 pro-Palestinian activists charged with threatening U of Michigan officials to cut Israel ties
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Four more people have been charged with participating in a criminal intimidation campaign against University of Michigan officials to try to force the school to cut financial ties to Israel, federal authorities say.
The new indictment comes nearly five months after eight pro-Palestinian activists were charged with conspiracy.
The indictment describes threats and vandalism at officials’ homes, some businesses and the Jewish Federation of Detroit.
Investigators have highlighted several incidents that made headlines in the past few years, including fake bloody corpses that were placed in a university board member’s yard and the 2024 spray-painting of anti-Israel messages at the home of Santa Ono, who was school president at the time.
Two of the four new defendants were arrested and will make their first court appearance today, while the other two people were not in custody, says the US Attorney’s Office in Detroit.
The eight people charged in June have pleaded not guilty.
“From Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas, those who terrorize Jews have been the bad guys. As Americans, our job is to fight the bad guys,” says US Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr.
The Times of Israel Community.