by Jon King
Multiple search warrants have been served in at least three metro Detroit communities, which activists claim are targeting pro-Palestinian supporters from the University of Michigan.
“These are Department of Attorney General warrants [being served] against multiple individuals in multiple jurisdictions, including Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Canton,” Danny Wimmer, spokesperson for the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, confirmed for the Michigan Advance.
While Wimmer would not disclose the nature of the warrants or specifically how many individuals were targeted, he did say that no arrest warrants were being executed, and that while people had been temporarily detained, there were no arrests.
However, the pro-Palestinian advocacy TAHRIR Coalition issued a release claiming that agents with the FBI, Michigan State Police, as well as officers with local police agencies arrived Wednesday morning in unmarked vehicles at the homes of University of Michigan pro-Palestine activists in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Canton.
“Law enforcement officers confiscated electronics, questioned, and detained two activists, who were later released from their Ann Arbor residence,’’ the group said in the release. Officers from the attorney general’s office, the Plymouth Police Department, and the FBl also obtained personal property from a Ypsilanti residence and detained four people who were later released, the coalition said.
The coalition alleged officers refused to present warrants in Ypsilanti. A Facebook post by the Ypsilanti Police Department said they had been made aware that the FBI and Michigan State Police would be conducting a search warrant at a location on Summit Street.
“Immigration is not involved. YPD has been brought in to secure the scene, given that a crowd has assembled,” the post said.
Ann Arbor Police also posted to Facebook about the warrants, saying they were one of “many agencies involved in a multi-jurisdictional investigation led by the Michigan Attorney General’s office [and] related to reported crimes committed in the City of Ann Arbor as well as other jurisdictions. This investigation is not related to immigration enforcement.”
Wimmer also said immigration agents were not involved.
“There was no ICE element present,” he said.
Although 11 people are facing criminal charges from the AG’s office for defying law enforcement orders to vacate a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Michigan campus in May 2024 and then physically obstructing law enforcement officers as they worked to clear the area, the TAHRIR Coalition told Michigan Advance that there is no overlap between the encampment charges and Wednesday’s warrant sweep.
That was later confirmed by Wimmer, who said the search warrants were not related to protest activity on the university campus “nor the Diag encampment.” Instead, he said the search warrants were in furtherance of “our investigation into multijurisdictional acts of vandalism.”
Requests for comment have been made to the FBI and University of Michigan, but have yet to be returned. Michigan State Police spokesperson Shanon Banner referred all comment to the AG’s office.
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