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While pro-Palestinian campus protests have been largely peaceful, recent incidents have raised concerns as demonstrators have appeared at official’s homes and caused property damage.
University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker alleged threatening behavior by protesters who showed up at his private residence after 4 a.m. and “left a list of demands, including defunding the police,” he wrote on X. According to the university, Acker was one of several regents targeted by protesters who have demanded colleges divest endowment funds from Israel, weapon manufacturers, and other companies profiting off of the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Early this morning, more than 30 student protesters staged demonstrations at the private residence of at least one U-M Board of Regents member and went to several others’ residences. Activities included placing tents and fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets on the lawn, marching and chanting, and posting demands on doors,” officials announced Wednesday.
A coalition of Michigan student groups wrote on social media that it was behind the protests.
“There is no freedom of speech that includes showing up at someone's house at 4 a.m. dressed in a threatening manner. This isn’t actually complicated or controversial,” Acker posted on X.
Elsewhere, local news outlet SFGATE reported that the University of California President’s office in Oakland had been vandalized and that a pro-Palestinian group took credit for the damage. In addition to breaking windows, protesters claim to have released 500 cockroaches in the office.
Protesters wrote on the local website indybay: “we attacked the UC Office of the President in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance. Using a fire extinguisher filled with red paint we covered the facade and smashed seven windows. Then, with access to the building, we released 500 cockroaches inside and emptied a second fire exintguisher [sic] onto the interior. We finalized the act by leaving a water jug inscribed with "Bonk" at the scene—an homage to the militants of Cal Poly Humboldt and the international student encampment movement.”
