DETROIT, Mich. — Federal prosecutors on Friday added four defendants to a conspiracy case over an alleged campaign of threats, vandalism and intimidation aimed at University of Michigan leaders, Jewish organizations and businesses seen as tied to Israel.
A new grand jury indictment brings the number of people charged in the case to 12. The first eight defendants, indicted in June, have all entered not-guilty pleas. Of the four new defendants, two were arrested and were due before a judge Friday, and two remained at large.
According to the office of the U.S. Attorney in Detroit, the group sought to pressure the university and companies into cutting financial ties with Israel after the Hamas attacks of 2023 and the war in Gaza that followed. Prosecutors say the campaign escalated over time from online threats to spray-painted messages, broken windows and property damage at homes and workplaces, with the attacks then publicized on social media alongside warnings of more to come.
Investigators have pointed to incidents including fake bloody corpses left in the yard of a university board member.
The university has said that under 0.1% of its endowment sits in funds that could hold Israeli companies. Lawyers who represent pro-Palestinian activists in separate suits against the school criticized the first round of charges, arguing federal prosecutors were pursuing acts normally left to local authorities.
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