Police in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said Sunday night that they are investigating a reported beating of a Jewish student by a group of males in the early hours of Sunday morning, and that they are considering it a potential crime of “bias.”
Reports began circulating on Sunday that a 19-year-old Jewish male had been assaulted by a group that became aware that he was Jewish. After asking him to confirm that he was Jewish, the group apparently beat the student.
According to reports on social media, the student sustained minor injuries and did not require hospitalization.
The Ann Arbor Police Department released the following statement:
The Ann Arbor Police Department is actively investigating a bias-motivated assault that
occurred on 9/15/24 at approximately 12:45am in Hill Street and S. Forest. The 19-yearold male victim reported he was walking when a group of unknown males behind him asked if he was Jewish. When the victim replied yes, the group of males proceeded to assault him. The suspects then fled the area on foot. The victim suffered minor injuries, and he did not require hospitalization. The incident was later reported by the victim to the AAPD on 9/15/24 at 12:20pm.
We take bias-motivated crimes very seriously and have assigned this incident to our hate crimes detective. Right now, it is very early in the investigation and have limited information on the suspects. We will provide additional information when it becomes available.
The Michigan Daily, the student newspaper, reported that the alleged hate crime had been widely condemned.
The University of Michigan has a long history of anti-Israel activism on campus. Last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced criminal charges against 11 participants in last spring’s anti-Israel “encampment.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who does not believe Israel should exist, criticized Nessel for the charges against the activists, saying ““You would expect that from a Republican, but not a Democrat, and it’s really unfortunate.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
