Whitmer: Demonstrators showing up at UM regents' homes 'crosses the line'

Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that pro-Palestinian demonstrators who showed up last week at the homes of University of Michigan regents in "the middle of the night" had crossed the line of what's appropriate.

Whitmer, a Democrat and the state's top elected official, made the comments after a bill signing inside the state Capitol, just a few hours after University of Michigan officials said the school had cleared an encampment of pro-Palestinian student groups on the Ann Arbor campus.

"Showing up on doorsteps in the middle of the night, I think, it crosses the line," Whitmer said. "And I am hopeful that as this debate continues that we can be protective of people's rights, but also, we have a duty to keep people safe."

Two UM regents, Jordan Acker and Sarah Hubbard, shared stories of protesters appearing at their homes in the early morning hours of last Wednesday. Acker posted on social media that at about 4:40 a.m., a masked person came to the door of his family's home with "a list of demands, including defunding the police."

"My three daughters were asleep in their beds, and thankfully unaware of what transpired," Acker wrote. "This form of protest is not peaceful.

"Public officials should not be subject to this sort of intimidating conduct, and this behavior is unacceptable from any Michigan community member, especially one led by someone who called for the death of people they disagree with."

The UM demonstrators have been calling for the university to divest from its endowment companies contributing to Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas.

"Regents: we are here, 24/7 to fight against U-M's complicity in genocide," said a social media account of the TAHRIR Coalition, which describes itself as a group of student organizations united for the "liberation of Palestine."

In a statement last week, UM said more than 30 student protesters staged demonstrations at the private residence of Hubbard, the Board of Regents chair, and went to several others’ homes.

"Activities included placing tents and fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets on the lawn, marching and chanting, and posting demands on doors," the university's statement said.

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Staff Writers Kim Kozlowski and Charles Ramirez contributed.