FBI arrests seven people for allegedly threatening University of Michigan officials

FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday the bureau has arrested seven people for allegedly targeting University of Michigan leaders and businesses in eastern Michigan with violent threats and attacks. 

The arrests come the same day the Justice Department announced a federal grand jury has indicted eight conspirators associated with the university over their alleged roles in plans to threaten University of Michigan leaders, law enforcement, and businesses, including the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. It was not clear if the eighth person has been arrested.

Patel said the indictment alleges the conspirators engaged in a coordinated campaign that sought to pressure the university officials to cut ties with Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel in 2023.

The director said the defendants vandalized properties by spray-painting phrases like “Intifada” and “Free Palestine,” left threatening notes on their victims' doors, and even broke windows of the victims’ homes. The criminal acts went on for over a year.

“In America, we rule by law not by fear," U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement. "These alleged threats and attempts to terrorize government officials, businesses, and the Jewish Federation are anti-American. We will counter intimidation with justice." 

The defendants have been charged with a mix of conspiracy to transmit a threat, conspiracy to tamper with a witness and destruction of property to prevent seizure. 

Conspiracy to tamper with a witness carries the highest penalty of up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.