Michigan AG charges 11 pro-Palestinian protesters at University of Michigan

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed criminal charges against 11 pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan, alleging that several of them used "physical force to counter" police officers clearing a tent encampment in Ann Arbor. One of the protesters was charged with ethnic intimidation after he allegedly attacked a pro-Israel rally.

The charges brought by Nessel's Office were filed Wednesday in 15th District Court in Washtenaw County, where there have been a number of protests on campus over the past year demonstrating against Israel's military actions in Gaza. Universities and officials in Michigan have struggled to balance the right to free speech with the rights of other students to attend classes and activities without feeling threatened.

Nessel issued a stern warning to protesters not to engage in what she called "illegal activity."

"The right to free speech and assembly is fundamental, and my office fully supports every citizen’s right to free speech under the First Amendment," Nessel said in a statement. "However, violent and criminal behavior, or acts that trample on another’s rights, cannot be tolerated. I hope today’s charges are a reminder to everyone who chooses to assemble, regardless of the cause, that the First Amendment does not provide a cover for illegal activity."

Out of the 11 people charged, nine stemmed from protests on May 21, when police cleared a tent encampment at the Diag at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Protesters had set up tents calling upon the university to divest from Israel. Two of the nine were charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor with a maximum 30-day sentence, for "failing to vacate the encampment" despite being given "ample time following clear lawful orders to do so," Nessel's Office said in a news release Thursday announcing the charges.

In addition, seven of the pro-Palestinian protesters on May 21 were charged with trespassing and an additional count of resisting or obstructing a police officer, a felony with a maximum two-year sentence. The seven demonstrators "attempted to halt or push back the police by making direct contact with the officers’ bodies or physically obstruct an arrest," Nessel's office alleged.

None of the 11 defendants have yet been arraigned. Nessel declined to press charges during protests at the honors convocation on March 25 inside Hill Auditorium, or at the University of Michigan's Museum of Art on April 22. Nessel added her office is still investigating protests outside the homes of some university regents.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, the only member of Congress of Palestinian descent, criticized Nessel for the charges in a post on X, calling them "frivolous charges that only serve to silence those speaking out against" Israel. Tlaib said "this shameful attack on students’ rights will fail."

In addition to the nine charged from the May 21 protests, Nessel charged two other pro-Palestinian protesters, one a Michigan alumnus and the other not tied to the university, for attacking a pro-Israel counterprotest on April 25 at the Diag that was demonstrating against the pro-Palestinian tent encampment. The two pro-Palestinian protesters are accused of attacking Israeli and American flags at the pro-Israel rally.

One of them was charged with disturbing the peace, a 90-day misdemeanor, for kicking over flags of the pro-Israel counterprotesters and with ethnic intimidation, a misdemeanor with a maximum one-year sentence. It's unclear what exactly the ethnic intimidation charge was specifically about, but appears to be related to the alleged victim's support for Israel or his Jewish faith. Court records said it was because of the victim's "religion, or gender, or national origin." Nessel's Office said the suspect "self-professed" to an investigating officer his ethnic intimidation. Nessel's Office did not immediately return a message Thursday seeking clarification on that charge.

In the other case involving the pro-Israel rally on April 25, a pro-Palestinian protester is accused of destroying Israeli and American flags. The suspect was charged with two counts of malicious destruction of personal property of less than $200, a 93-day misdemeanor. He's accused of swiping Israeli and American flags from the pro-Israel demonstrators at the Diag, breaking two of them and then placing them in a garbage can.

Two weeks ago, police arrested four pro-Palestinian protesters on campus.

Protesters set up a tent encampment at the Diag on April 22, echoing a similar encampment at Columbia University in New York City. Police shut down the encampment a month later.

"During the police action to clear the encampment, several demonstrators defied orders from law enforcement to vacate the camp, and physically obstructed the police and pushed against their bodies," Nessel's Office said.

Nessel added: “A campus should not be lawless; what is a crime anywhere else in the city remains a crime on university property."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: [email protected] or X @nwarikoo

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 11 pro-Palestinian protesters at University of Michigan face charges