Authorities raid 5 Michigan homes amid yearlong vandalism investigation into pro-Palestinian graffiti

Authorities raided five homes in southeastern Michigan on Wednesday as part of a yearlong investigation into pro-Palestinian vandalism targeting the homes of University of Michigan officials and others.

Authorities raided five homes in southeastern Michigan on Wednesday as part of a yearlong vandalism investigation into pro-Palestinian graffiti targeting the homes of University of Michigan officials and others. Search warrants, authorized by a Michigan state court, were executed in Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti, according to a Thursday news release from the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The individuals whose homes were searched were not arrested, though some were detained and later released, officials said. The search warrants were executed as part of the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s investigation into at least 12 “coordinated and related” acts of vandalism and property damage that occurred in multiple Michigan counties between approximately February 2024 through March 2025, officials said. The estimated cost of the damage is about $100,000, according to authorities. “These search warrants were not investigative of protest activity on the campus of the University of Michigan nor the Diag encampment; today’s search warrants are in furtherance of our investigation into multijurisdictional acts of vandalism,” the attorney general’s office told CNN Wednesday, adding that local, state and federal authorities were involved in the searches. “Political slogans or messages” were placed at every vandalized site, the attorney general’s office said. Graffiti displayed pro-Palestinian messages at most of the sites, photos show. Several University of Michigan administrators were among those targeted.