A group of college-aged activists has been arrested after allegedly carrying out a year-long campaign of intimidation, vandalism, and threats targeting University of Michigan officials, local businesses, and Jewish-affiliated institutions.
The group’s stated goal was to pressure them to sever ties with Israel, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday.
According to a federal indictment, the suspects are accused of coordinating a series of attacks that included spray-painting homes with messages such as “Intifada” and “Free Palestine,” leaving threatening notes at victims’ residences, and damaging private property throughout eastern Michigan.
“These individuals spent over a year allegedly engaging in a targeted, coordinated campaign of violence and intimidation motivated by the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” Patel said.
“They vandalized property, left threatening messages, and even violently attacked homes while children slept inside,” he added.
The indictment says the alleged terror campaign targeted University of Michigan leaders as well as business owners, elected officials, and even a police officer.
Federal investigators said the alleged conspiracy operated from roughly March 2024 through April 2025.
Prosecutors contend that members of the group used encrypted messaging applications and social media platforms to identify targets, coordinate actions, and promote their activities online.
Authorities allege the group steadily intensified its tactics, progressing from vandalism to more dangerous acts, including breaking windows and throwing chemical-filled glass jars into occupied homes, including residences where children were present.
Several of the most high-profile incidents reportedly occurred on Oct. 7, 2024, the first anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel, according to the FBI.
Patel said one suspect allegedly targeted the Jewish Federation in Bloomfield Township on that date, while another individual, who was employed by the University of Michigan, is accused of vandalizing the home of the university’s president.
The director added that his agency won’t tolerate such behavior and vowed to bring perpetrators to justice, Fox noted.
“Our FBI Detroit team and partners across Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin pursued a thorough, rigorous investigation and did a tremendous job executing the multi-state operation early this morning,” Patel said.
Fox added: “The seven individuals arrested were charged for their alleged roles in conspiracies to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce.”
Last year, Patel announced the bureau had arrested seven individuals, also in Michigan, believed to be plotting a domestic terrorist attack.
“This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” he wrote on the eve of the celebration.
“More details to come. Thanks to the men and women of FBI and law enforcement everywhere standing guard 24/7 and crushing our mission to defend the homeland,” Patel posted on X.
According to the New York Post, FBI Detroit spokesman Jordan Hall confirmed “members from the FBI in Michigan were present in the cities of Dearborn and Inkster this morning conducting law enforcement activities.”
A senior public official told The Post that the FBI planned to raid three homes in the area and had informed the Dearborn Police Department.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not receive advance notice about the law enforcement operation.
“When Patel posted, nobody had been briefed. So now everybody’s slowly getting the information,” the official told The Post.
Meanwhile, the FBI memo that initiated the Biden-era Arctic Frost investigation into President Donald Trump and hundreds of his allies over their activities related to January 6 lacked substantial evidence and clear legal justification, according to several former prosecutors and FBI agents who reviewed the document and identified multiple deficiencies.
The investigation, code-named Arctic Frost, was initially led by an FBI supervisor who had expressed anti-Trump sentiments and was later taken over by Special Counsel Jack Smith.