Jewish Student Targeted, Then Assaulted Near U-M Central Campus

AAPD probing incident as hate crime; victim was asked if he is Jewish and then assaulted when he affirmed; ADL offers $5,000 reward for info leading to convictions.

Police in the US state of Michigan said they were probing an antisemitic incident in which a student was asked whether he was Jewish and then attacked after he answered affirmatively.

The Ann Arbor Police Department said the incident happened on Hill Street and South Forest Avenue, at 12:45 a.m. local time Sunday.

“The 19-year-old male victim reported he was walking when a group of unknown males behind him asked if he was Jewish,” a police statement said. “When the victim replied yes, the group of males proceeded to assault him.”

The Ann Arbor Police chief, Andre Anderson, said in a statement that he had been in contact with the University of Michigan, “and our goal is to discuss safety over the next few weeks.”

“There is absolutely no place for hate or ethnic intimidation in the City of Ann Arbor,” Anderson said. “Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes. We are committed to vigorously investigating this and other hate-motivated incidents and will work with the county prosecutor’s office to aggressively prosecute those who are responsible.”

Michigan Hillel CEO Davey Rosen said in a statement, “In hard times, we at Michigan Hillel draw strength from this incredible community — students, parents, alumni, and friends — and that strength powers our pride and joy in being Jewish and, in particular, being Jewish at the University of Michigan.”

University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono condemned the attack in a message issued to the student community.

“We strongly condemn and denounce this act of violence and all antisemitic acts,” he wrote. “Antisemitism is in direct conflict with the university’s deeply held values of safety, respect, and inclusion, and has no place within our community.”

Stressing that the school is a place where all students “deserve to feel safe and protected,” he said, “who we are and how we worship should never be a reason to strike out against another.”

Ono called on anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward to police or campus security.

The Anti-Defamation League rights group said it was offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to conviction of the attack perpetrators.

ADL President Jonathan Greenblatt, announcing the reward on social media platform X, wrote that he was “grateful” that local police were investigating the incident as a hate crime. “There is no place for antisemitism or bigotry on our streets or on our campuses,” he said.

There has been a spike in antisemitism and anti-Israel activism since the start of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The rise has also been felt on campuses, including Michigan.

In June, police opened a hate crime investigation after pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel graffiti was spray-painted on the exterior of University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker’s law firm.

Splotches of red paint were left above the building’s doors. “FREE PALESTINE” was spray-painted in black upon the building’s walls, while “DIVEST NOW” and “U-M KILLS” — a reference to the University of Michigan — were spray-painted in red upon at least one window and a sidewalk.

“This has nothing to do with Palestine or the war in Gaza or anything else,” Acker, an attorney, said at the time. “This is done as a message to scare Jews. I was not targeted here today because I am a regent. I am a target of this because I am Jewish.”

The previous month, police broke up a month-long pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. About 50 people were cleared from the school’s Diag, known for decades as a site for campus protests. At least four were arrested.

Times of Israel Agency