Vandals attacked the home of University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker on Monday in what is now the third time pro-Palestinian protesters have targeted the Jewish official.
“This is the third time that I—and now my family—have been the target of these Klan-like tactics,” Acker wrote on Instagram. “We all need to call out this cowardly act attacking my family and my home for what it truly is—terrorism.”
On Monday morning, Acker and his family awoke to the sound of heavy objects thrown through the windows of their home. The vandals also painted one of Acker’s vehicles with “Free Palestine” and “Divest,” as well as an inverted red triangle, a symbol commonly used to denote Palestinian resistance against Israel.
“I will not let fear win,” Acker continued in his post. “All this does is harden my resolve to continue to do the right thing for the university and the Michigan voters who elected me.”
The first incident against Acker occurred on May 15, when a masked protester came to his home to deliver a list of demands that included university divestment from companies profiting off the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and the defunding of the Division of Public Safety & Security.
The second incident occurred on June 3 when vandals spray-painted obscenities and anti-Israel graffiti across the entrance to the Goodman Acker law firm in Southfield, Mich., of which Acker is a senior partner.
The university’s public affairs team released a statement calling Monday’s crime “a clear act of antisemitic intimidation.”
“The University of Michigan condemns these criminal acts in the strongest possible terms,” the statement read. “We call on our community to come together in solidarity and to firmly reject all forms of bigotry and violence.”
Acker told The Michigan Daily that he supports law enforcement’s search for the vandals, who he believes “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, including federally.”
“We can disagree, we can fight, we can have long disagreements about policy, but committing crimes is not appropriate,” he said. “It’s never acceptable under any circumstances for members of our community.”
