FBI Director Kash Patel announced the early morning arrests of seven people Wednesday on a 10-count indictment for attacks on and harassment of leaders at the University of Michigan and businesses in the eastern district of Michigan.

Patel wrote that according to the indictment, “a group of college-aged adults engaged in a coordinated campaign of violent, criminal acts seeking to pressure University of Michigan leaders and other businesses in the Eastern District of Michigan to cut off all ties with Israel.”

Some of the acts that were committed included breaking windows by throwing jars of chemicals through the windows of homes in which children were sleeping, leaving threatening notes, spray-painting “Free Palestine” and “Intifada” on houses and other acts of vandalism.

Patel alleged in his statement that the perpetrators deliberately chose the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel to commit their most visible crimes, targeting on Oct. 7, 2024, the Bloomfield Township Jewish Federation and vandalizing the home of the president of the University of Michigan, with the latter act committed by an employee of the university.

The criminal acts took place for about a year, from March 2024 to April 2025, according to the statement.

Patel praised the Detroit FBI and its partners for conducting “a thorough, detailed investigation of this case” and charging those involved “for their alleged role in conspiracies to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce.”

The Department of Justice stated that eight conspirators had been indicted.

“In America, we rule by law, not by fear,” said Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Michigan. “These alleged threats and attempts to terrorize government officials, businesses and the Jewish Federation are anti-American. We will counter intimidation with justice.”