Yesterday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that she is pursuing criminal charges, including felonies, against 11 people—a group comprising graduate student workers, undergraduates, alumni, and community members—in response to their alleged involvement in pro-Palestine protests at the University of Michigan. These charges, sought by the University of Michigan, are disgraceful, unjust, and violent. Retaliation against those brave enough to contest the University’s support of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people is unacceptable.
The Ono administration’s violent campaign to repress the pro-Palestine movement has been escalating for months. They have pursued an initial set of charges against four protesters with the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. They subjected over 30 students to disciplinary proceedings. They took advantage of an empty campus over the summer to make backdoor revisions to University policies that allow it to more quickly and harshly discipline protesters. They have targeted workers’ employment, terminating and blacklisting some workers from employment at the university. These charges represent the latest in a series of moves by the administration to criminalize pro-Palestine protest on campus. We refuse to be intimidated.
The administration remains the only party to engage in violence on our campus. Many of the protestors charged today were targeted for their alleged presence during the University’s sweep of the Diag encampment in May, when cops pepper sprayed activists and sent at least four people to the hospital. Earlier this month, the University arrested four pro-Palestinian protesters—a racially motivated act which followed previous instances of racial profiling and illegal pretextual stops by DPSS. The fundamental issue remains the administration’s use of the endowment to fund genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation in Palestine. They are the real criminals.
We stand with our comrades targeted by the Attorney General and will be mobilizing workers in the coming weeks to fight tooth and nail for all charges to be dropped.
Donate to the legal fundraiser for pro-Palestine activists at U-M here: https://chuffed.org/project/um-palestine-legalfund.
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