ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — An attack on Hill Street near Forest Street in Ann Arbor is one of several incidents police are investigating. The Hill Street attack on a Jewish student occurred on Sept. 15.
Ann Arbor police said that incident is actively being investigated as ethnic intimidation.
"They asked him if he was Jewish. He responded affirmative, and they beat him up. So that kind of set the tone on campus that Jews are being targeted," said Yitz Pierce, the program director for the Jewish Resource Center of Michigan.
"When we see hate happening, we can't pretend that it's not hate."
University President Santa Ono sent a letter to students on Monday to address two other incidents involving Jewish students from over the weekend at a historically Jewish fraternity.
Ann Arbor police said the motives for those assaults have yet to be determined. Ono said the incidents, at this point, are not considered to be identity-based.
7 News Detroit spoke with the victim, who said he was trying to protect his female friends.
"This group of four guys come up and started harassing them, started asking me weird questions, clearly trying to take me off guard and mess with me a little bit," said the sophomore, who asked not to be named.
He said they sucker-punched him and left him with a concussion, a black eye and five stitches.
When asked if he felt the attack was rooted in antisemitism, he responded, "I believe this one was. I can't be definitive of that, but we are a known Jewish group, and they know that. It's commonly known."
Pierce said another incident happened at a different Jewish fraternity next door to the Jewish Resource Center. Ann Arbor police said they didn't receive a report on that alleged incident.
To make students feel safe, Pierce said a group of student volunteers are making walking groups.
"So, you don't feel comfortable walking at night... (if) you want somebody to come with you. You'll text in this group (and say) hey, looking for somebody to walk with me, and we'll try to provide that," he explained.
"If you're walking with a number of other people, you're less likely to get picked on, and we want people to just feel confident. I don't feel that Michigan is an unsafe place. The campus is taking this extremely seriously. And we feel we have the backing of the administration with us."
While the incidents occurred off campus, 7 News Detroit reached out to the University for comment and received the following statement:
Antisemitism is an affront to everything we stand for at the University of Michigan. We will continue to stand up to it, and all forms of hate, and work to protect our Jewish community.
Because the incidents took place off campus, the Ann Arbor Police Department is taking the lead in the investigation with the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security providing support. Both agencies are significantly increasing patrols in the area and deploying additional security resources.
The safety of our community is always paramount. We are encouraging anyone with knowledge about the incidents to share it [a2gov.org] with the Ann Arbor Police Department and DPSS.
