Prosecutors Charge 12 in Alleged Threat Campaign Against Michigan Jews, One a Former El-Sayed Campaign Staffer

Federal prosecutors have expanded a conspiracy case in Michigan to 12 defendants, alleging a campaign of threats, vandalism and intimidation against the state's Jewish community and University of Michigan officials. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced four new defendants on Friday, Oct. 30.

One of the original defendants, Mariam Odeh, 24, of Dearborn, was a paid hourly staffer on Abdul El-Sayed's U.S. Senate campaign earlier this year. These are allegations in an indictment. None of the defendants has been convicted.

What prosecutors allege

The superseding indictment says the group formed after Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Prosecutors allege its aim was to pressure the University of Michigan and businesses into cutting any perceived tie to Israel.

The alleged targets include the Jewish Federation of Detroit, university leaders including former president Santa Ono and Regent Jordan Acker, law enforcement personnel, and businesses seen as linked to Israel.

Prosecutors say the tactics included spray-painted threats, broken windows, and glass jars of noxious chemicals thrown into family homes. They allege homes and workplaces were marked with red handprints and inverted red triangles, which the Justice Department describes as a symbol associated with Hamas. Photos were allegedly posted online with warnings such as "you cannot hide."

Prosecutors also allege participants used encrypted messaging apps. According to the indictment, some discussed kidnapping and firebombing potential targets, including a pro-life center.

U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon framed the case in sweeping terms. "From Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas, those who terrorize Jews have been the bad guys," he said. "As Americans, our job is to fight the bad guys."

The four new defendants

The newly charged are Henry David MacKeen-Shapiro, 23; Aaron Hunter Vonbargen, 25; Joseph Mark Fisher, 23; and Srishti Tarana Sharma, 23. The Justice Department said MacKeen-Shapiro and Vonbargen were arrested this past week. Fisher and Sharma were still at large as of Friday's announcement.

Eight people were indicted in June. Odeh is among them.

Odeh's role and her time on the campaign

The indictment identifies Odeh as president of the campus group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, known as SAFE. Her single count is conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce, a felony with a five-year maximum.

Prosecutors specifically allege she took part in vandalizing a Rolls-Royce Solutions America facility in June 2024. They say the group padlocked doors, painted inverted red triangles on the building, left red handprints on windows and threw red paint balloons at its sign.

Campaign finance disclosures show El-Sayed's campaign paid Odeh $154 on March 3 and $593 on March 13. Campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner first said Odeh worked two weeks as an hourly employee. She later said Odeh was hired in February and left April 15, and that the campaign issued a missed hourly payment in May.

Richner told Deadline Detroit, "We were not aware of any allegations against her when she was hired."

The timeline is not settled. A pretrial services officer told a federal judge that Odeh reported "full-time employment for approximately four months," a figure well above what the campaign has described.

No source in the case has alleged that El-Sayed or his campaign knew of or took part in the conduct charged. Odeh was charged in June, and the allegations concern her activity in the SAFE group, not her campaign work.

The political backdrop

The case comes less than a week before the vote. Michigan's Senate race between El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, and Republican Mike Rogers is one of a handful that could decide control of the chamber. Voting ends Tuesday.

El-Sayed has been dogged by questions from Jewish voters and by attacks over his associations with anti-Israel figures. At a June campaign event, he argued of the activists' prosecution that "it's a lot more about what you're advocating for that gets you indicted or not indicted, rather than what you did." The Justice Department has not responded to that claim in the case filings described here. The indictment rests on alleged acts, including vandalism and threats, not on viewpoint.

El-Sayed has also repeatedly denied ties to extremist groups. In the final debate, Rogers asked whether he stood with America "or these terrorist groups overseas." Rogers said El-Sayed had links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

President Donald Trump has gone much further. At a Port Huron rally on Oct. 25, he called El-Sayed a "jihadist" who was "on the side of the terrorists" and said he would "have to go through a metal detector" to enter the Senate. El-Sayed called attacks on his loyalty "shameful."

Bishara Bahbah, a founder of Arab Americans for Trump, said of the president's remarks: "They are crossing a red line. They are racist." CNN's political analysis made a similar case, arguing the Republican attacks amount to bigotry against Muslims.

The Odeh case complicates that fight. The federal charges concern specific alleged acts against named targets and have nothing to do with El-Sayed's faith. His critics cite her payroll connection anyway. His defenders point to a few weeks of hourly work by someone nobody knew was under investigation.

What comes next

All 12 defendants are presumed innocent. Fisher and Sharma were still being sought as of Friday's announcement. The court has not yet set trial dates in the sources available to us.

Whether the Odeh connection affects voters before polls close Tuesday remains to be seen.