University of Michigan is a Cop: AG Nessel Collaborates With UM on New Charges Against 11 Divestment Activists

On Thursday, September 12, 2024, Michigan Top Cop (Attorney General) Dana Nessel announced that she would bring charges against 11 individuals who have been part of the larger movement to force the University of Michigan to stop supporting the genocide in Palestine and divest from Israeli companies and businesses. These charges focus around UM-Ann Arbor’s encampment that lasted for about 1 month earlier this year. The warrants and press release have a few instructive lessons for folks in Michigan (and possibly outside Michigan), for students and non-students alike:

Charges can come months after the fact. Movements need to prepare for charges to come at any time, and be prepared for the meat grinder of the carceral-legal system.
Having your face out, having a public social media profile, and being identifiable can be a significant liability. Being 100% perfectly anonymous isn’t a realistic goal, but the better we hide our identities from police, oppositional forces, and SOCIAL MEDIA, the harder it is to be identified and charged.
University policies have been changed to better crack down on student organizing (anything from a die-in to an encampment). This doesn’t close off disruptive actions — it forces us to become more creative with targets, terrain, and how we build relationships. Resisters shouldn’t restrict themselves to playing by the University’s playbook, but can use it to understand how to be disruptive and not get caught. For example, in 2023, multiple fire alarms were pulled during finals and the GEO Strike. Let’s get creative! Moreover, the University’s repressive conduct policies mean far less to someone who isn’t a student or staff.
Michigan’s Resisting and Obstructing felony statute plays a significant role in the state’s crackdown on political organizing and political actions.
One person has been charged with an attempted “ethnic intimidation” charge, apparently based on something they allegedly said to an officer. Talking to cops only hurts, it never helps! Moreover, this yet again proves that hate crime statutes and other anti-discrimination statutes can easily be weaponized against people who do not have structural power. Hate crime statutes never actually provide redress for homophobia, racism, or misogyny. The wording of these statutes can even allow people be prosecuted for “anti-white racism.”
These charges are being brought with the “support of the county prosecutor and University President,” indicating once again the power of the University of Michigan in the larger carceral landscape of Michigan. It should no longer be considered hyperbole to call Santa Ono the “top cop” of UM. Also, fuck all “progressive“ prosecutors. There’s no such thing. The involvement of the AG allows the University, local officials, and local cops to claim they weren’t directly involved, while lightening their load by taking on some of that work.
It seems like prosecutors are trying to avoid getting bogged down in complex and potentially weak cases with large numbers of defendants. In this press release, the AG elected not to charge anyone in relation to a graduation disruption, or a confrontational action outside the museum of art.
Investigations into home demos continues. There can be more charges on the way if people are identified at them and prosecutors think they can tie them to ‘illegal’ activity.
The maximum bail in the warrants is $2000. Though there are felony charges and an “attempted ethnic intimidation” misdemeanor charge, this seems to be a lot of effort and showboating for lots of low-level misdemeanors. The only felony charge is R&O, which is notoriously vague (this vagueness only works in the state’s favor, as it can be easily applied to protestors, people in mental health crises or active withdrawal, or literally anyone else). The state may be desperate to slow down and stop the movement, but this indictment reveals they are kind of grasping at straws.
This indictment is nothing new, and nobody can navigate this stuff alone. Everyone with charges and warrants should take advantage of the many resources and movement memory around legal repression. One good resource here is the book “A Tilted Guide to Being a Defendant”, linked below. Stay in touch with the wider movement so you can be supported.

These charges highlight the ongoing importance of anti-repression work, and organizing to build movements that do not overly rely on charismatic, recognizable individuals. You don’t want everything to be sunk if those individuals have to take time to deal with charges. The goal of repression is to keep us from acting, so we must also find ways to continue to act and to disrupt the university in real, material ways. Obviously we don’t blame the 11 defendants for these charges, but now is a time to learn and plan for the future. How do we be safe now so we can be dangerous later?

STRAY THOUGHTS:

“Over 35” participants were initially targeted — how many more people have been identified and could be targeted or pressured later on?
The university always intended to remove the encampment. Any paperwork from the fire marshall is just for pretext.
The individual U of M DPSS officers saying they were harmed/obstructed are Karl Wancha, Justin Berent, Thomas Cargill, and Tyler Smith.
2 petty MDOP charges for ‘injuring’ a US & israeli flag. Maybe there should be more “injuring” flags in the future, there’s far more than just 2 of them around.
The press release makes a big deal about the importance of the first amendment and the sharing of ideas in college. Apparently this doesn’t include the idea that genocides shouldn’t be supported.
Police body cams are one of the evidence sources. This popular reform after earlier BLM uprisings has reliably fed police-point-of-view evidence to prosecutors, while only sometimes catching officers murdering us or planting “evidence.”