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Eight activists are facing federal charges for their Palestine solidarity activism in Michigan.

On Wednesday morning, the FBI raided the homes of seven of the activists, and prosecutors unsealed an indictment against them and another activist following their arrest. The federal government is charging the activists – most of whom attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor – with carrying out a “criminal intimidation campaign” against university administrators in an attempt to push the university to divest from Israel.

The charges mark an escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on Palestine solidarity activism, and civil rights groups warn that they veer into attacks on free speech.

The indictment details instances including the activists placing fake corpses on a university board member’s lawn, and spray painting pro-Palestine messages at the home of the university’s then-president.

“The subjects allegedly vandalized the victims’ property, spray painted their homes with messages like ‘Intifada’ and ‘Free Palestine,’ left threatening notes on their doors, and even broke windows of the victims’ homes — throwing glass jars filled with chemicals while children slept inside,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X on Wednesday. The chemicals named were paints and butyric acid, a foul-smelling substance found in butter.

The Fight to Defend Pro-Palestine Speech on Campus Isn’t Over

The felony charges carry the possibility of years in........

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