Michigan AG confirms warrant sweep was connected to ‘coordinated criminal acts of vandalism’

The office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is confirming that the multiple search warrants which were executed by law enforcement agencies Wednesday at five homes were part of an investigation of pro-Palestinian protesters who are accused of causing approximately $100,000 of damage at up to a dozen locations.

Nobody was arrested in the course of fulfilling the warrants, which were executed in Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti, Nessel’s office said in a statement, which added that law enforcement forcibly breached the entryway of one home after more than an hour of efforts to negotiate entry.

The search warrants were part of an ongoing vandalism investigation, including at the homes of University of Michigan President Santa Ono and University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker.

U of M regent says home was vandalized in an antisemitic attack using ‘Klan-like tactics’

“In all cases, the crimes were committed in the middle of the night and in one case upon a residence wherein children were sleeping and awoken,” the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s statement 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.”

Liz Jacob, an attorney at the Sugan Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, said in a statement on behalf of the TAHRIR Coalition, a pro-Palestinian group at the University of Michigan, that Nessel is aligning herself with the administration of President Donald Trump “to intimidate protestors and attack their constitutional right to freedom of speech.”

“Dana Nessel frames herself as a democratic bulwark against the Trump Administration, yet has demonstrated continuous collaboration with Trump’s federal government to repress the popular movement for Palestinian liberation,” Jacob said. “Nessel’s irresponsible conduct has already endangered Michigan residents, putting them in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant and anti-democratic assaults.”

No charges have yet been filed as part of the investigation, which remains ongoing.