Progressive critics claimed AG Nessel was biased in bringing the case, presumably because of her Jewish identity.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday dismissed criminal charges against seven anti-Israel protesters accused of participating in a disruptive encampment at the University of Michigan last year.
A legal expert is concerned the state prosecutor’s action amounts to a failure in upholding the law against those who violate it.
“When you have a good, strong case that can send a message that Jew hatred has consequences, but then you drop those charges instead of pursuing it, we see that as a dereliction of duty,” Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project, told National Review.
“It sends the message that there are no consequences for engaging in disruptive illegal activity, and that only encourages more of that disruptive and illegal activity targeting Jewish students and faculty.”
Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, filed misdemeanor charges for trespassing and felony charges for resisting and obstructing police in September 2024 against seven people in connection with an anti-Israel demonstration at Michigan’s flagship university last May.
The defendants — identified as Oliver Kozler, Samantha Lewis, Henry MacKeen-Shapiro, Michael Mueller, Asad Siddiqui, Avi Tachna-Fram, and Rhiannon Willow — all pleaded not guilty. Students in pro-Palestinian groups, such as the TAHRIR coalition and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, participated in last year’s encampment.
This week, Nessel said she couldn’t continue prosecuting the case for several reasons.
In a statement issued Monday, Nessel criticized the presiding Ann Arbor judge for failing to make a determination involving the defendants in spite of “months and months of court hearings.” She also pointed out that the prolonged case has become a “lightning rod of contention,” fueled by public calls for her recusal.
Progressive critics, including Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), claimed Nessel was biased in bringing the case, presumably because of her Jewish identity. Nessel shrugged off the criticism, saying calls for her recusal have “been a diversionary tactic which has only served to further delay the proceedings.”
The turning point in her decision to drop the case arrived when a Jewish nonprofit wrote a letter in support of the prosecution, which Nessel cited in her own statement. She called the letter inappropriate because it had “been directly communicated to the Court,” meaning it was entered into the court record.
Nessel declined to name the nonprofit in her statement, but multiple news outlets identified the letter’s author as the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor. The letter was penned on Friday, with a rebuttal to the accusations of bias Nessel faced.
“If it were successful, this would mark the first time a prosecutor would be disqualified from prosecuting a case based on perceived bias due to their religious faith,” the group said. “The notion that AG Nessel is biased against Muslims and Americans of Arab descent is unfounded and deeply offensive.”
The letter, however, was never supposed to be filed as an official court document. Rather, it was supposed to be shared with the court’s public information officer. Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor CEO Eileen Freed chalked the fallout from the letter up as a “misunderstanding,” according to the Times of Israel.
Nonetheless, Nessel said the charges were dismissed due to the group’s “impropriety.” In general, letters of support for a prosecutor are not directly admissible as evidence in court.
Filitti explained Nessel was “absolutely correct from a legal perspective” in calling it inappropriate, but he still takes issue with her decision.
“The bigger issue is a lot of groups have been highly critical of the attorney general, accusing her unfairly of bias for Jewish students or for the Jewish community,” the lawyer said. “The letter itself was ill-advised, but it’s understandable in the face of the lawfare being used by pro-Palestinian groups to try to discredit and remove the prosecutor from pursuing these cases.”
“The university and the state need to show that actions have consequences,” he added.
Filitti suggested the University of Michigan enforce a ban on concealment by masking to crack down on disruptive campus protests. Regarding the attorney general, the Lawfare Project counsel offered some leniency.
“While I think it’s fair to be critical of this decision to not prosecute these cases. I do also want to recognize that the attorney general is walking a tight line,” Filitti said, referring to Michigan’s large Palestinian population whose members have increasingly spoken out against Jews and Israel since October 7, 2023. “The attorney general, who is walking a political tight rope, is very cognizant of that.”
“It’s really disappointing that to some extent, politics may have been involved in this decision to dismiss charges,” he continued. “We should be prosecuting these cases on their merits. In this case, we had students who caused illegal disruption, who engaged in felony behavior. And they’re simply not seeing consequences for their actions.”
The Michigan attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to National Review’s request for comment.
Last month, the FBI and police raided and executed search warrants at several homes of anti-Israel student protesters who attended the University of Michigan. The activists were let go after they were briefly detained.
The raids were handled in coordination with Nessel’s office as part of an ongoing investigation into a series of vandalism cases involving pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti targeting the homes of university officials. No charges have been filed related to the recent raids or pending investigation.