8 Pro-Palestinian Activists Charged With Plotting to Target Jews in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed serious criminal charges against eight pro-Palestinian activists who, according to authorities, spent months running an organized campaign of threats, intimidation, and property destruction targeting Jews, Israel supporters, senior University of Michigan officials, and public figures. The suspects, five women and three men between the ages of 21 and 28, were arrested by FBI agents at multiple locations in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

The indictments were filed as early as May 20, but their details were only made public now. According to the prosecution, members of the group acted in an effort to pressure the University of Michigan to divest from Israel and from companies identified with it.

According to court documents, members of the group used encrypted messages on social media and collaboration platforms outside the United States to identify targets, gather personal information, and plan actions against them. Among the targets marked were senior University of Michigan officials, law enforcement personnel, businesses identified as pro-Israel, and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

According to the indictment, the case began shortly after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. On October 20, the defendants published a list of demands directed at the university administration, calling for "full and complete disengagement" from Israel and from companies that support it. After they said they did not receive a sufficient response, they moved, according to authorities, to "autonomous actions" that included planning to take over university buildings, block events, and vandalize property.

The prosecution says the group's internal communications included especially violent messages. The indictment alleges that the defendants discussed ways to "kill," "torture," and "terrorize" their targets. In one exchange, one defendant, who at the time was a medical student, wrote that he would "poison her slowly," referring to a member of the university's board of regents. Another defendant replied that members of the group should "go into that house and then burn it down."

According to authorities, the threats did not remain just talk. Members of the group traveled at night to homes and businesses that had been identified in advance, spray-painted messages and symbols, broke windows, blocked entrances, and threw glass jars filled with acid and paint at houses. They also documented their actions and circulated the images online alongside threatening messages such as "You can't hide" and "We will only come back stronger."

The investigation found that among the symbols that were spray-painted were inverted red triangles, a symbol used by the Hamas terrorist organization to mark targets in propaganda videos, along with red handprints and slogans such as "Intifada" and "Divest now." It is also alleged that members of the group were involved in vandalizing the Jewish Federation building in Detroit on October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel.

The federal prosecutor condemned the acts attributed to the suspects: "In America, we are governed by the rule of law, not by fear." He added that "the threats and alleged attempts to terrorize public officials, businesses, and the Jewish Federation are anti-American."