Eight University of Michigan (UMich) associated anti-Israel activists were indicted for a two and a half year campaign of violent threats and vandalism against university officials, the local Jewish federation, law enforcement, and businesses, the Michigan Eastern District US Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.
Twenty-three year old Canton resident Zainab Aliasgar Hakim, 21-year-old Ann Arbor resident Amatullah Aliasgar Hakim, 26-year-old Ann Arbor resident Paige Elizabeth Feyock, 28-year-old Milwaukee resident Ahmet Kerem Korkaya, 22-year-old Ann Arbor resident Jonathan Hongru Zou, 23-year-old Chicago resident Alexander Matthew Sepulveda, 24-year-old Dearborn resident Mariam Muhammed Odeh, and 24-year-old Ann Arbor resident Colin Hunter Weger were indicted by a federal grand jury after they were arrested in a multi-state operation in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The activists face a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment for conspiracy to transmit threats.
Since the October 7 massacre, the eight anti-Israel activists had allegedly launched a campaign of vandalism and intimidation primarily motivated by a desire for UMich to cut all perceived ties with Israel.
At times, they were connected to UMich student groups such as the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), and the TAHRIR Coalition.
They spread their demands using the social media platforms of those groups, as well as those of Palestine Action branches.
Homes, businesses vandalized
The eight anti-Israel activists allegedly held meetings to identify targets they believed were directly or indirectly connected to Israel, researching their personal details and business ownership, and performed surveillance on them and counter-surveillance on law enforcement.
The conspirators allegedly discussed methods of harming the targets and their families, including poison, bombs, and psychological torture.
Korkaya allegedly stated that one victim's family was on a hit list, and Feyock allegedly called for the conspirators to get the children of the targets.
"Let's get [Victim's] kids, bruh," Feyock allegedly said. "And [Victim's] too."
Korkaya allegedly said about another victim, “I’m gonna be the dirtiest f**king doctor ever...I’m gonna be [victim’s] doctor...poison her a** slowly.”
Witness intimidation charges
Feyock allegedly responded, “We need people following [victim]...get into that house, then burn it down.”
In an April 2024 meeting titled "house visits," with an agenda focused on "targeting the Board of Regents," Hakim, Feyock, and others allegedly resolved to target Regents' homes, arriving in the middle of the night to "appear more threatening."
The defendants operated at night, vandalizing and defacing homes and businesses with spray-painted threatening messages and slogans, including "intifada" and terrorist symbols such as the red inverted triangle, used by Hamas in propaganda videos to denote a target.