Federal charges expose alleged intimidation campaign tied to anti-Israel pressure, vandalism, and violent threats.
The FBI arrested eight pro-Palestinian demonstrators connected to the University of Michigan on Wednesday, charging them with conspiracy to threaten university officials, Jewish community institutions, and others as part of an alleged campaign to pressure the school into divesting from Israel.
The charges, filed on May 20 and unsealed after arrests across multiple states, accuse the defendants of using encrypted messages, social media, and overseas collaboration platforms to identify, target, and threaten their victims.
According to charging documents, the group allegedly gathered personal information on several targets, discussed plans to “kill,” “torment,” and “terrorize” them, and carried out some actions connected to the campaign.
One defendant, Ahmet Korkaya, then a medical student, allegedly wrote about poisoning a member of the university’s Board of Regents, while another defendant allegedly suggested entering the person’s home and burning it down.
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit was also named as a target in the indictment. Prosecutors allege the defendants were responsible for vandalizing the federation’s building on October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel.
Other named targets included former University of Michigan president Santa Ono, university investment and academic officials, members of the Board of Regents, a campus police officer, businesses, and companies.
U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said the alleged threats and attempts to terrorize officials, businesses, and the Jewish Federation were anti-American, stressing that the United States is governed by law, not fear.
The eight defendants, three men and five women between 21 and 28, were arrested in Michigan, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
The arrests come after federal and state authorities raided homes linked to campus protesters in April 2025 as part of an investigation into vandalism incidents cited in the indictment.
The case marks another major legal escalation connected to anti-Israel protest activity at the University of Michigan, where campus tensions have remained high since the October 7 Hamas attack and the war that followed.
