The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that a federal grand jury indicted eight people affiliated with the University of Michigan for allegedly conspiring to threaten university officials, law enforcement officers, businesses and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit as part of a campaign tied to anti-Israel activism.
“In America, we rule by law, not by fear,” stated Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “These alleged threats and attempts to terrorize government officials, businesses and the Jewish Federation are anti-American. We will counter intimidation with justice.”
According to the indictment, the alleged conspiracy began after Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and was driven by the defendants’ belief that the university and other targets financially supported Israel. Prosecutors said the group publicly called for supporters to “escalate, mobilize, and organize to demand divestment by any means necessary.”
The defendants allegedly used social media to demand that the university fully divest from Israel and companies doing business with the Jewish state. When university leaders did not meet those demands, prosecutors say the group escalated its activities, including occupying and vandalizing campus buildings, disrupting events and targeting the homes of university officials and an elected university regent.
Those charged are Zainab Aliasgar Hakim, Amatullah Aliasgar Hakim, Paige Elizabeth Feyock, Ahmet Kerem Korkaya, Jonathan Hongru Zou, Alexander Matthew Sepulveda, Mariam Muhammed Odeh and Colin Hunter Weger.
The indictment alleges that the defendants researched personal information about their targets online and “discussed methods by which to harm the targets and their families, including poison, bombs and psychological torture.” Feyock allegedly said one victim’s family was on a “hit list” and suggested targeting the children of two victims.
Feyock and Zainab Hakim were also charged with witness intimidation for allegedly attempting to prevent a University of Michigan student from cooperating with federal investigators.
Prosecutors further allege that the defendants vandalized homes and businesses with pro-Hamas imagery and slogans, including inverted red triangles and red handprints. According to the indictment, the inverted triangle has been used in Hamas propaganda videos to identify attack targets, while the red handprint references the 2000 Ramallah lynching of two Israeli reservists during the Second Intifada.
The indictment also alleges that the group spray-painted threats, shattered windows, sealed entrances, threw jars containing butyric acid into homes and businesses, and posted photographs of the damage online alongside warnings such as “you cannot hide” and “we only come back stronger.”
