Police Probe Assault on UMich Student by Mob Who Allegedly Asked If He Was Jewish

University of Michigan campus police in Ann Arbor, Mich., in a file picture. Mike Householder/AP Photo

A Jewish student at the University of Michigan was attacked early on Sept. 15 near the Ann Arbor campus in what police are investigating as an apparent hate crime.

According to Ann Arbor police, the assault occurred at about 12:45 a.m. near the Michigan Hillel, the Jewish student association located right off the university’s flagship campus.

The victim, a 19-year-old male student, was approached from behind by a group of unknown men who allegedly asked him if he was Jewish. After the student confirmed he was, the group allegedly assaulted him before fleeing on foot.

The victim suffered minor injuries and did not require immediate hospitalization, according to the Ann Arbor Police, which characterized the attack as a “bias-motivated assault.”

“There is no place for hate or ethnic intimidation in the City of Ann Arbor,” Ann Arbor Police Chief Andre Anderson said in a statement. “Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes.”

University of Michigan President Santa Ono similarly condemned anti-Semitic and bias-driven behavior, adding that the campus police are working closely with the city police in their investigation.

“We urge anyone with knowledge about the incident to share it with [the Department of Public Safety] or the Ann Arbor police department,” Ono said in a statement. “In turn, we will ask that perpetrators be held accountable for their actions.”

Neither the police nor the university’s statement specified whether the victim was affiliated with the university. However, the Michigan Hillel identified him as a student.

“The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we appreciate law enforcement’s quick response,” Michigan Hillel CEO Davey Rosen wrote in a letter to the campus community. “Unfortunately, this incident has marred an otherwise incredible start to the new academic year.

“In hard times, we at Michigan Hillel draw strength from this incredible community—students, parents, alumni, and friends—and that strength powers our pride and joy in being Jewish and, in particular, being Jewish at the University of Michigan.”

The Sept. 15 attack is part of a broader escalation of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incidents, as colleges across the nation welcome students back after a turbulent spring semester marked by widespread protests over the Israel–Hamas war following an attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. In the attack, Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

On Sept. 3, the first day of classes at Columbia University, two people were arrested after a group of anti-Israel protesters blocked the main gate to the New York City campus and vandalized an iconic 120-year-old statue. The group behind the protest wrote that it refused “to allow Columbia to return to a state of ‘normalcy’” and that it acts “in full support of the Palestinian resistance.”

On Aug. 30, two Jewish students at the University of Pittsburgh were attacked and injured with a glass bottle. Because the victims were both wearing Jewish yarmulkes and their attacker, a 52-year-old man, was wearing the Palestinian-associated keffiyeh, the university asked the FBI to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime.

At the University of Michigan, four people were arrested on Aug. 28 after a group of anti-Israeli protesters tried to disrupt Festifall, the university’s annual student organization fair. Three are unaffiliated with the university, and the fourth is a temporary employee.

Earlier this year, Ono introduced a “disruptive activity policy” to impose tougher punishments for anyone who interrupts official university events, such as lectures, speeches, athletic events, graduation, and award ceremonies, after his speech at a convocation for honors students was cut short by protesters calling on the university to divest itself of companies they believed were profiting from the war between Israel and Hamas.

“The protesters’ intrusion on one of the university’s most important academic traditions was unacceptable,” Ono told the school in March. “One group’s right to protest does not supersede the right of others to participate in a joyous event.”