Local civil rights and legal advocacy organizations decried what they see as “dubious” charges against eight people whom federal prosecutors charged with threatening University of Michigan leaders' homes and businesses in order to push them to “sever all perceived ties with Israel,” per an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
The indictment charges eight individuals — six of whom are current or former U of M students — with conspiracy to transmit a threat, conspiracy to tamper with a witness, and destruction of property.
“The subjects allegedly vandalized the victims’ property, spray painted their homes with messages like ‘Intifada’ and ‘Free Palestine,’ left threatening notes on their doors, and even broke windows of the victims’ homes — throwing glass jars filled with chemicals while children slept inside,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote in a social media post about the indictment.
And, in one instance, the indictment alleges, some of the defendants “littered the yard and porch with small tents, sheets wrapped to look like dead bodies, dismembered and bloody baby dolls, and a broken crib” at the home of a third victim. “They taped a demand note to the front door ordering, among other things, that the University of Michigan divest from Israel.”
Amy Doukoure, lead staff attorney at the Muslim civil rights advocacy organization, said that the actions alleged in the indictment don’t amount to the charges, notably because prosecutors don’t outline specific threats made against individuals that are required by the law. (CAIR-Michigan is not representing defendants in this case, but is representing two of them in cases alleging discrimination against them by U of M officials.)
“The threat has to be specific,” Doukoure said. “It has to be something that's what legally we would call a ‘really real threat.’ ... It can't be something that can be maybe, possibly inferred.”
Doukoure found many of the text exchanges alleged in the indictment to be “reprehensible” and called the vandalism the indictment described “indefensible,” but she didn’t see much evidence of specific threats. Having been on the receiving end of such threats, she said, her organization is familiar with the high bar they have to clear for federal prosecutors to bring charges.
The indictment includes many instances of what Doukoure regards as protected free speech — from rallies on campus to social media posts listing the defendants' “demands.”
Prosecutors "would like you to think that the speech itself is dangerous. And because the speech is dangerous, then all of these other acts must be dangerous,” Doukoure said. “I think that's problematic.”
Pro-Palestine speech has faced censure not only on college campuses, but also by private employers and even elementary schools.
Though many may take issue with the language or viewpoints of the defendants, including, for example, alleged statements about martyrdom, John Philo of the Detroit-based Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice said that's not the crux of the indictment.
“They're not going after the fact of spray painting,” Philo said. “They're going after the fact that it says ‘Free Palestine.’”
While the indictment describes the Hamas-led attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Philo noted that it doesn’t mention Israel’s retaliatory military campaign or blockade that resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths.
“I’m not condoning any of the alleged underlying vandalism that occurred that's mentioned in the indictment,” Philo said. “But why are we escalating that now to a conspiracy and seeking to equate a point of view with terrorism?”
In a statement released with the indictment, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said prosecutors "will counter intimidation with justice."
“These alleged threats and attempts to terrorize government officials, businesses, and the Jewish Federation are anti-American,” Gorgon said.
A spokesperson for his office declined to comment on views from civil rights organizations regarding the indictment.
Michigan Public contacted several defendants named in the indictment but has not received a response.
Editor's note: The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
