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Two defendants remain at large in Michigan anti-Israel intimidation case

“Justice will find you,” said Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.

Anti-Israel graffiti at the University of Michigan. Credit: U.S. Department of Justice.
Anti-Israel graffiti at the University of Michigan. Credit: U.S. Department of Justice.

Two people remained at large on Friday after federal prosecutors announced charges against them in an alleged conspiracy to intimidate Jewish institutions and force “the University of Michigan and other businesses to sever all perceived ties with the state of Israel,” according to court filings.

Joseph Mark Fisher and Srishti Tarana Sharma, both 23, are among four newly charged defendants, bringing the total to 12, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Henry David MacKeen-Shapiro, 23, and Aaron Hunter Vonbargen, 25, were charged and arrested this week.

“Those who believe they can threaten families, hide behind a group and avoid accountability should think twice,” said Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office. “Justice will find you.”

Fisher faces two counts of conspiracy to transmit threats, while Sharma faces one conspiracy count and a charge of aiding and abetting the destruction of property to prevent seizure, according to a superseding 64-page indictment filed on Oct. 21 and unsealed on Friday.

According to the indictment, the defendants “used encrypted messages, social media, and overseas collaboration platforms to research, target and attack their victims.” They allegedly posted photographs of the attacks online, accompanied by additional threats and warnings.

“Their criminal activity included spray painting threats, breaking windows, and throwing glass jars filled with noxious chemicals into family homes,” according to prosecutors.

One of the defendants in the Michigan anti-Israel intimidation case, painting red handprints. Credit: U.S. Department of Justice.
One of the defendants in the Michigan anti-Israel intimidation case, painting red handprints. Credit: U.S. Department of Justice.

“They marked their victims with threatening symbols used by Hamas, including red inverted triangles and red handprints,” the indictment states.

The indictment cites messages in which co-defendant Ahmet Kerem Korkaya discussed poisoning a university official and targeting another official’s family. “Let’s get [V-4’s] kids bruh,” co-defendant Paige Elizabeth Feyock allegedly wrote, referring to a victim whose name was redacted.

On Oct. 7, 2024, conspirators allegedly vandalized the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, painting over surveillance cameras and spray-painting red inverted triangles on the property. Messages included “f*** Israel” and “Intifada,” according to the indictment.

That morning, conspirators allegedly scattered nails in a university official’s driveway and left a note reading, “How dare you live in peace with your children when the very bombs you invest in have destroyed so many families?”

Sharma allegedly warned multiple conspirators through encrypted group chats that investigators were seeking to execute a search warrant for co-defendant Alexander Matthew Sepulveda on April 23, 2025. According to prosecutors, Sharma instructed them to remove Sepulveda from those chats.

Fisher is accused of participating in two conspiracies to transmit threats, one targeting a University of Michigan regent and another targeting executives and employees of Rolls-Royce Solutions America.

Those targeted included the Jewish Federation of Detroit, two university regents and other university leaders, a university police lieutenant, a student and two businesses with perceived ties to Israel, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“From Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas, those who terrorize Jews have been the bad guys,” said Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “As Americans, our job is to fight the bad guys.”

MacKeen-Shapiro and Vonbargen were scheduled to make their initial court appearances on Friday, according to prosecutors. Fisher and Sharma remained at large as of press time.

Jessica Russak-Hoffman is a reporter for JNS in Seattle.
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