Eight activists were federally indicted last month for alleged pro-Palestine actions in Michigan.
FBI, assisted by local law enforcement agencies and the University of Michigan’s Division of Public Safety and Security, executed arrest warrants against the activists across multiple states on June 10. Hours later, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced the indictment of Zainab Hakim, Amatullah Hakim, Jonathan Zou, Alexander Sepulveda, Mariam Odeh, Paige Feyock, Colin Weger and Ahmet Korkaya. Six of the eight activists are associated with the University of Michigan.
The indictment accuses the defendants of “orchestrat[ing] detailed plans to threaten University of Michigan leaders, law enforcement, and businesses with coordinated criminal acts” to force them to divest from Israel.
The defendants are charged with ten counts as part of three felony charges: conspiracy to transmit a threat, conspiracy to tamper with a witness, and destruction of property to prevent seizure.
Most counts pertain to incidents of vandalism at the homes of various university officials and other institutions in 2024 and 2025. The indictment alleges the defendants spray-painted pro-Palestine messages, taped notes demanding the university divest from Zionist holdings, broke windows at Rolls-Royce and Maersk facilities (both of which are involved in arming Israel), threw butyric acid (a foul-smelling substance) into homes of officials defending the Israeli genocide, and sent messages to each other expressing desire to harm university officials who are supporting the Zionist genocide.
Two of the activists also face charges of intimidating a federal witness after they allegedly confronted an unnamed student whom they suspected was a law enforcement informant.
One activist is charged with destruction of property to prevent seizure for allegedly deleting the contents of his phone and laptop.
On June 14, four defendants were released on bond. Two were placed under curfew, while the other two were ordered to remain under home detention.
The indictment follows escalating repression directed at pro-Palestine organizers at the University of Michigan. Like other universities across the country, the University of Michigan responded to Palestine solidarity organizing with increased surveillance—including hiring private investigators—disciplinary proceedings, suspensions, raids, investigations, arrests, expulsions, and public targeting by university administration.
After the 2024 Gaza solidarity encampment at the university, seven students were charged while the administration implemented new policies aimed at restricting demonstrations and protest activity. In 2025, all charges were dropped following a successful campaign by activists opposing the repression. The Michigan Attorney General cited in her reasoning for dropping the charges that “the case has become a lightning rod of contention.”
The latest federal indictment takes place in the context of the increasing reactionization of the state and intensified repression, such as Trump’s executive order and memo targeting “Antifa-aligned entities”, the terrorism charges brought against anti-ICE activists in Prairieland, Texas and Stop Cop City activists in Atlanta, Georgia, and the politically-motivated deportation attempts against Palestine solidarity activists and union organizers.
Image: The indictment document of eight activists. Credit: United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.
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