U-M regent’s home vandalized, 'Free Palestine' spray-painted on wife's car

• University of Michigan regent’s home damaged, wife’s car vandalized 
• Regent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish, and U-M called the actions anti-Semitic
• Public officials have faced calls for months to ‘divest’ from companies with ties to Israel and funds that support Israel in its war against Hamas

A vehicle belonging to the wife of University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker was spray-painted with “DIVEST FREE PALESTINE” and the Ackers’ Oakland County home was damaged Monday morning, according to a social media post by the Democratic official. 

Acker, who is Jewish, posted on his Instagram photos of a broken window of his home and a white car spray painted in red with an inverted triangle. 

“That upside-down triangle is what Hamas uses to identify legitimate military targets that are Israeli,” Acker told Bridge Monday afternoon. “And so I take that as a direct and personal threat on my life.” 

The American Jewish Committee has called the symbol “an anti-Israel symbol often weaponized under the guise of ‘Palestinian Resistance.’”

In the Instagram post, Acker said the car had been graffitied by “anti-Semitic vandals” and this is the third time that he has “been the target of these Klan-like tactics.” 

“We all need to call out this cowardly act attacking my family and my home for what it truly is — terrorism,” Acker said in the post. “And like we always do in this great nation when we’re confronted with terrorism — I will not let fear win. All this does is harden my resolve to continue to do the right thing for the University and the Michigan voters who elected me.”

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The Huntington Woods Department of Public Safety is investigating the incident in cooperation with local, state and federal agencies, the department said in a news release. There were no injuries. 

According to police, a neighbor’s security camera captured footage of two suspects wearing dark sweatshirts over their heads stopping in front of a home and later running away. The release did not identify the home as Acker’s. 

Police are asking Huntington Woods residents to check if they have surveillance or doorbell camera footage and to let police know if they have seen anything suspicious that could be related to the crime. 

Past incidents

Pro-Palestinian protestors have repeatedly called on the U-M Board of Regents to ‘divest’ funds they say benefit Israel and its military, but the board has declined to divest, saying it will continue to shield the university endowment from “political pressures.” 

Earlier this year, Acker’s law firm was vandalized with the messages “FREE PALESTINE” and “UM KILLS.” Acker said at the time that it was “done as a message to scare Jews.

Student activists delivered demands to the homes of Acker and other regents earlier this year. They also placed fake body bags in the yard of then-Chair Sarah Hubbard. 

In a statement, U-M called the incident involving Acker’s home and car a “clear act of antisemitic intimidation.”

“The University of Michigan condemns these criminal acts in the strongest possible terms,” the statement said. “They are abhorrent and, unfortunately, just the latest in a number of incidents where individuals have been harassed because of their work on behalf of the university. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We call on our community to come together in solidarity and to firmly reject all forms of bigotry and violence.”