Five Michigan individuals from Canton, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor had their homes raided Wednesday morning by the FBI, and at least three individuals were detained in their homes before being released.
“Between 6:00 am and 9:00 am on Wednesday, April 23, FBI Agents, the Michigan State Police, and local police officers, at the behest of Attorney General Dana Nessel, arrived in unmarked vehicles at the homes of University of Michigan pro-Palestine activists across residences in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Canton,” Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), a Michigan chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, said in a press release on April 24.
Photos since released by MLive have shown police vehicles with clear identification at at least two of the scenes.
Multiple homes of U of M regents have been vandalized with pro-Palestine graffiti in previous months, and these raids were “to investigate five individuals allegedly linked to home vandalism and property damage in Southeast Michigan,” according to local NPR station WEMU.
The City of Ypsilanti’s Police Department has released a statement saying that they had been made aware of the raids that morning by the FBI, who were said to have a search warrant. Inquiries from the public have been directed to the Attorney General’s Office by Ypsilanti police.
“Our search warrants were not related to protest activity on the campus of the University of Michigan nor the Diag encampment,” wrote Danny Wimmer, spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, in a statement to MLive/The Ann Arbor News. “Today’s search warrants are in furtherance of our investigation into multijurisdictional acts of vandalism.”
A video posted from one of the individuals’ homes, where police can be seen using a battering ram to gain entry, claims, “No search warrant was provided.”
All individuals have since been released.
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
