ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A viral video circulating on social media shows law enforcement raiding the homes of student activists.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) put out a statement Wednesday (April 23) stating multiple homes were raided that belonged to University of Michigan students who were involved in pro-Palestinian activism.
A spokesperson for the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Danny Wimmer, confirmed the multiple law enforcement agencies were executing search warrants on behalf of the AG’s office.
Wimmer said the searches had nothing to do with any protests that took place at the University of Michigan Diag or anywhere else on campus.
“The searches were in furtherance of our investigation into multijurisdictional acts of vandalism,” Wimmer said.
Wimmer declined to say whether this was connected to the vandalism that took place last year at a U of M regent’s house, where ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Divest’ were graffitied on the car.
Wimmer said the searches on Wednesday had nothing to do with immigration enforcement.
According to Wimmer, some individuals were briefly detained and released in the execution of the search warrants.
The searches occurred at multiple residences in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Canton Township.
CAIR-MI put out a statement expressing concern over the raids, referring to them as ‘aggressive’.
“Staff witnessed armed agents executing search warrants in a residential neighborhood, causing significant fear and distress for the targeted students and their families,” the CAIR-MI statement said in part.
