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A former Abdul El-Sayed campaign worker was among the dozen anti-Israel activists accused of terrorizing members of Michigan’s Jewish community, according to feds.
Mariam Odeh, 24, was one of eight included in the original rounds of indictments by the US Attorney’s Office for allegedly threatening University of Michigan officials in an attempt to force the school to cut ties with Israel, the US Attorney’s Office in Eastern Michigan said.
The number of conspirators grew to 12 Friday when four more alleged co-conspirators were indicted, federal prosecutors said.
Odeh, who was charged in June for her alleged role in the scheme, did a stint working for El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign, The Detroit News reported that same month.
She had been paid twice by the lefty candidate’s campaign, records obtained by the outlet showed.
An El-Sayed spokesperson later confirmed Odeh’s position as an hourly employee on the campaign for two weeks to the outlet.
The Dearborn, Michigan native left the campaign gig on April 15, after raking in nearly $750, El-Sayed spokesperson Roxie Richner told the paper.
Odeh was allegedly among the crew of pro-Palestinian activists who planned and carried out the harassment and intimidation of school officials to try to get the university to cut ties with Israel, according to feds.
The gang allegedly carried out the vandalism of board members’ homes, planting fake corpses on lawns and graffitiing anti-Israel slogans in front of the then-school president’s home, according to prosecutors.
The hateful crew also broke windows and threw jars with noxious chemicals into family homes, posting the alleged attacks on social media and warning “you cannot hide,” feds said.
Odeh was among the crew of conspirators who vandalized a Rolls Royce Solutions America, Inc. building in Detroit in 2024, prosecutors alleged.
The group, including Odeh, padlocked the building’s doors and spray-painted “FREE PALESTINE” and “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA” on the sidewalk in front of the building, prosecutors said.
Odeh was charged with a count of conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce and could face up to five years in prison, The Detroit News reported.
The recent indictments charge four more conspirators – two who are said to still be at large – with intimidation against university leadership, law enforcement personnel and businesses with perceived ties to Israel, feds said.
The El-Sayed campaign and attorneys for Odeh did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.
