“Paranoia strikes deep,” goes the classic Buffalo Springfield song. How about the hatred of Jews? It doesn’t have quite the same ring, but a federal indictment emanating from a cast of characters associated with the University of Michigan provides a glaring example of how deeply it strikes.
The indictment handed up by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan runs to 63 pages and variously alleges ten counts against eight defendants. It is posted online here by the New York Times. The illustrated Department of Justice press release is posted here.
The eight defendants are pro-Hamas fruitcakes of a familiar variety. The variety is familiar because it emerged like Kudzu in the aftermath of 10/7.
FBI Director Kash Patel summarized the indictment on X:
The indictment alleges that after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, these individuals – a group of college-aged adults – engaged in a coordinated campaign of violent, criminal acts seeking to pressure University of Michigan leaders and other businesses in the Eastern District of Michigan to cut off all ties with Israel.
The subjects allegedly vandalized the victims’ property, spray painted their homes with messages like “Intifada” and “Free Palestine,” left threatening notes on their doors, and even broke windows of the victims’ homes – throwing glass jars filled with chemicals while children slept inside.
They deliberately chose the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack to engage in some of their most visible criminal acts – including one subject who specifically targeted the Bloomfield Township Jewish Federation on October 7, 2024. On the same day, another subject – employed by the University – vandalized the University President’s home.
The alleged criminal targeting occurred for over a year – beginning approximately March 2024 and continuing until April 2025.
Adam Kredo has the Washington Free Beacon’s straight news account here.
Seth Mandel comments on the indictment in this Commentary post. Thinking about Kudzu, I offer you an excerpt:
As it happens, one of the defendants accused of participating in this group’s alleged campaign of terrorizing families is Mariam Odeh. According to the Detroit News, Odeh worked as recently as April for the Senate campaign of Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The campaign confirmed the report. This work came after the events described in the complaint. So perhaps these folks have a future after all—so long as they want to work in Democratic Party politics.
Another connection in the thread: In April 2024, pro-Hamas activists set up an encampment on a main open area on Michigan’s campus. A fire marshal was called in to assess, and he found that “the densely placed tents with no egress pathways and the highly combustible nature of the tent materials and other furnishings have made this encampment highly susceptible for a fire to occur and inescapable for any occupants to flee in the event of a fire. If a fire were to occur within this encampment, the human casualty rate would be catastrophic.”
Those at the encampment refused to pack up their generator and multiple electronic devices and tents and chickenwire and everything else that made it a hazard, so the school had law enforcement clear it out. Those resisting the police were charged. A man named Amir Makled was the defense lawyer for some of them. Eventually, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was pressured to drop the charges because Democrats complained loudly that her Jewish faith prevented her from fairly prosecuting the case. When Nessel gave in to this chilling anti-Semitic pressure campaign, Makled rejoiced.
In April, Makled was chosen by the state Democratic Party to replace one of the University of Michigan regents, Jordan Acker. As it happens, Acker is Jewish and was one of the targets of the harassment and intimidation campaign for which Odeh and her associates stand accused. Makled has also appeared at Sayed’s campaign rallies.
That is where we are in progressive politics of 2026. And it is the state of higher education in various places around the United States. And, yes, it is a sign of a very broken academic and political culture.
The Jewish Federation of Detroit, which was also vandalized by the group, issued this statement applauding federal, state and local law enforcement for taking action:
The Jewish Federation of Detroit applauds the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, the FBI, and state and local law enforcement for the investigation leading to the indictment and arrest of eight defendants alleged to have conspired to threaten and intimidate Jewish leaders, businesses, and community institutions, as well as law enforcement in our community.
The indictment details a deliberate campaign of intimidation and terror: attacks on private homes, threats to “get” the “kids” of victims, witness intimidation, and the targeting of Jewish institutions, including our own. Many of the alleged threats directly reference the Hamas-led terror attack on October 7, 2023.
We are grateful to law enforcement for pursuing this investigation with the seriousness it demands, and we look forward to seeing justice served, sending a clear message that hate, intimidation, and antisemitic violence have no place in our community or in our country.
As for the receipt of the message, I am afraid the statement is overoptimistic.
The case is illustrative. Hatred of Israel is a form of anti-Semitism. “Pro-Palestinian” is frequently a euphemism for “pro-Hamas.” The Washington Post, for example, calls the defendants “pro-Palestinian activists.” This is what the keffiyeh is all about. It represents a state of mind that is now embedded in the Democratic Party. One can’t help but wonder how long this can go on.
