The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced yesterday that a 64-page superseding indictment (full text) has been unsealed, now charging 12 defendants with conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce, as well as witness tampering. Defendants used vandalism and intimidation against their targets. According to the indictment:
The defendants are a group of individuals associated with the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After the October 7,2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, the defendants and unindicted conspirators orchestrated detailed plans to threaten University of Michigan leaders, law enforcement, and businesses with coordinated criminal acts. Their goal included forcing the University of Michigan and other businesses to sever all perceived ties with the State of Israel.
To accomplish this goal, the defendants and their unindicted conspirators ... used encrypted messages, social media, and overseas collaboration platforms to research, target, and attack their victims. Then, they posted pictures of their attacks on social media, along with additional threats and warnings. Their criminal activity included spray painting threats, breaking windows, and throwing glass jars filled with noxious chemicals into family homes. They marked their victims with threatening symbols used by Hamas, including red inverted triangles and red handprints. They used the internet and social media to broadcast their message to ensure their threats and commitment to continuing criminal activity were heard by their victims and others who support Israel....
From approximately October 2023 through and including April 2025, the defendants and unindicted conspirators targeted individuals and businesses in the Eastern District of Michigan and elsewhere, including: The University of Michigan's President, Chief Investment Officer, Provost, and members of the Board of Regents and their businesses; a University of Michigan police officer; Rolls Royce Solutions America, Inc.; Maersk, Inc.; and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit....
JNS reports on the indictment.
