University of Michigan Used Undercover Agents to Surveil Pro-Palestinian Protesters, Students Say
The University of Michigan has spied on pro-Palestinian student protesters, and they did so by hiring some employees of a Detroit-based private security firm. The Goes City Shield is a private security firm. This security firm has been accused of at least five cases where students reported that they were followed and filmed, and even threatened to make themselves vulnerable. In such a video-recorded case, one of the investigators was seen pretending to be disabled and staging false theft allegations against a student. In another incident, it is reported that a student was nearly hit by a car driven by an undercover agent.
What students are saying?
Videos and copies of the information provided for the hearings reveal that the university has spent more than 800,000 of the city’s money from June 2023 through September 2024 buying the services of the City Shield Company and the same goes for its parent company, Ameri-Shield. There were some proofs of the students’ guilt, but a vast majority of charges were not approved. Internet news sources tell the story of how several students linked up with the group SAFE or more specifically Students Allied for Freedom and Equality.
Goons on fires
The new phase is talking about the university as a place of lack of privacy, under the coverage of the surveillance projects. On the one hand, a multitude of the students say that they had a nerve-racking and ludicrous experience at the same time. Katarina Keating, a student representative of SAFE, described the trauma of the experience in the following words: “I felt completely vulnerable, constantly on edge, and I couldn’t help it since the last day of November 2024.”
Constant Surveillance
The text is interrupted successfully with a direct conversation of the parties (students vs. the government who is chasing them). Students who have the power of speech can successfully transfer information. Everything seems to be humorous from time to time because the situation is exaggerated so much that funny sounds goofs were hired for tracking campus activists by using millions of dollars.
Tactics and Methods
Informants were actually seen by students working in the field in rotating groups — some attending cafes and bars to overhear conversations, while others took to trailing protesters through Ann Arbor. This increase in surveillance activity has been observed to be running parallel to the enforcement of the laws by the Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the FBI during the Trump era.
University’s Response
The University of Michigan is yet to confirm any such surveillance. The school has come up with a statement affirming its intention “to keep a safe and secure campus” by “not charging on individuals or groups due to their beliefs or affiliations”. Moreover, the institution states that it got no complaints at all.
No Comment
Both the security company City Shield and the Regent Jordan Acker, who is a strong critic of the protests, did not get back to the press with the answers to their questions regarding the matter.
Ongoing Conflict
The university has had a hostile relationship with the pro-Palestinian activists, especially after they started an encampment in 2024 and demanded for the divorce from Israeli-related companies. In this case, the university authorities did not leave the matter to the local police, instead, they took the initiative to refer the case to the state’s attorney general for action against student demonstrators.
