Federal Bureau of Investigations, state police, and local police authorities took part in raids in Ypsilanti, Canton, and Ann Arbor Wednesday. Local police authorities say the raids were part of a Michigan Department of Attorney General investigation. A spokesperson for the department said the searches were related to an investigation into acts of vandalism.
MLive first reported the detention and then release of three people at one of the raids in Ypsilanti Wednesday morning. A crowd gathered outside the scene.
The Michigan State Police, the Ypsilanti Police Department, and the Canton Police Department directed all questions to the Michigan Attorney General’s office.
Chris Page, strategic communications manager at the City of Ann Arbor Police Department, wrote in an email to Michigan Public that the investigations are related to “reported crimes.”
“On April 23, 2025, the Ann Arbor Police Department was one of many agencies involved in a multi-jurisdictional investigation led by the Michigan Attorney General’s office,” Page wrote. “The investigation is related to reported crimes committed in the City of Ann Arbor as well as other jurisdictions.”
Danny Wimmer, press secretary for the Michigan Department of Attorney General, told Michigan Public that the department cannot confirm specific numbers of detentions from the raids.
“Some individuals were briefly detained and released in the execution of these search warrants, but no arrests have been made.”
Wimmer said the department executed some search warrants in the area along with local, state, and federal authorities, but that no immigrant enforcement authorities were involved.
The Tahrir Coalition at the University of Michigan, which is made up of more than 90 pro-Palestine organizations, said in a press release Wednesday that the raids took place at the homes of University of Michigan pro-Palestinian activists. They also alleged that officers confiscated electronic devices during the search.
Danny Wimmer initially said he could not confirm the reason for the raids during the ongoing investigation. He later confirmed via email that the investigation was related to acts of vandalism.
"I am able to confirm our search warrants were not related to protest activity on the campus of the University of Michigan nor the Diag encampment," Wimmer wrote in a follow-up email. "Today's search warrants are in furtherance of our investigation into multijurisdictional acts of vandalism."
