Dozens of tents were in place as part of an anti-Israel protest at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed White, File)
Board members note the university maintains no direct investments in Israel and holds less than $15 million in funds that might include Israeli companies, representing less than 0.1%.
University of Michigan officials have been forced to hire round-the-clock security after anti-Israel protesters escalated from campus demonstrations to terrorizing administrators’ families at their private homes.
Calling to “Free Palestine” have repeatedly struck officials’ homes during nighttime hours, employing tactics that include smashing windows with projectiles, spray-painting vehicles, and staging disruptive demonstrations on private property while families sleep inside, multiple UM regents confirm to Detroit News.
Regent Jordan Acker’s family endured the most severe attack when vandals threw mason jars filled with urine through his home’s front window at 2 a.m. while his three young daughters slept upstairs.
“It’s been really hard on my wife. It’s been really, really hard on my kids, especially my 10-year-old, who was woken up by the glass breaking,” says Acker.
Glass shattered throughout the home during the December incident, which also saw vandals spray-paint his wife’s car with “divest” and “free Palestine” alongside an upside-down triangle symbol associated with Hamas targeting.
Both family vehicles were damaged in the attack. Earlier harassment at Acker’s residence included masked protesters arriving at dawn with lists of demands, while his Southfield law office was vandalized with profanity-laced messages calling him out by name.
Regent Acker’s vandalized car
Other officials faced similar residential targeting. President Santa Ono’s home was spray-painted with “intifada” and “coward” in October, while Provost Laurie McCauley had her bedroom window smashed and residence graffitied in March with anti-Israel slogans.
Regent Sarah Hubbard discovered approximately 30 protesters had erected tents on her front lawn and used bullhorns to disrupt her neighborhood at 6 a.m.
“Nobody should ever encounter a masked and hooded man on the front porch of their home in the early morning making demands that the university divest from Israel and defund the police,” Regent Mark Bernstein said after his own home was targeted.
Despite the sustained pressure campaign to divest from Israel, Board members note the university maintains no direct investments in Israel and holds less than $15 million in funds that might include Israeli companies, representing less than 0.1% of the total endowment.
Police investigations into the attacks remain ongoing.
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