A University of Michigan student was arrested after campus police say they watched her knock a Jewish conservative activist to the ground, and video shows her screaming a death threat as officers took her away.
Story Snapshot
- University of Michigan police say officers saw a student assault activist Liz Benichou during a campus event.
- The fight began after an argument over signs about Islam and a remark about how women are treated in Iran.
- Video shows the woman yelling, “I should have f*cking killed you when I had the f*cking chance!” as she was arrested.
- The reporter who filmed it says the woman supports Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
- Police released the student while prosecutors decide whether to file charges, and her name has not been made public.
Campus Confrontation Turns Violent
The clash took place shortly before 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. Benichou, a pro-Trump influencer who calls herself a “proud Jewish woman,” was there for a stop on a tour run by the conservative group Liberty Under Fire USA. The group had set up a table with signs asking whether Islam is compatible with Western values. A female student came up and argued with the men at the table, asking whether they had a permit.
The argument turned physical after Benichou commented on the student’s clothing. “If she walked around like this in Iran, what would happen?” Benichou asked. In the video, the student drops her phone, shoves Benichou to the ground with both hands and tries to kick her. A young man pulls her away. Video of the attack was posted online by Cam Higby, a conservative independent journalist.
University of Michigan police said officers had been called to an unpermitted event, and that “officers witnessed a University of Michigan student assault a woman not affiliated with the university.” Police said the student “was taken into custody, processed, and released pending warrant authorization.” That means local prosecutors will decide whether to file criminal charges. As of Monday, November 2, no charges had been filed, and police had not released her name.
Suspect’s Chilling Words Caught on Video
As officers took her into custody, the student kept shouting. She admitted hitting Benichou in the face and said, “I’d f*cking do it again.” While being placed in a police car, she screamed at Benichou, “I should have f*cking killed you when I had the f*cking chance!” Earlier in the video, she had insisted, “I have several f***ing eyewitnesses, I didn’t do f***ing s***.”
Benichou said afterward that she was “physically assaulted simply for showing up and exercising my First Amendment rights.” She added, “Political violence has no place in the United States of America.” Taylor Sharp, the head of Liberty Under Fire USA and Benichou’s manager, said she hurt her lower back in the fall and plans to press charges. Police said no injuries had been reported to them.
The El-Sayed Connection
According to Higby, the reporter who filmed it, the woman is a supporter of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. Liberty Under Fire USA made the same claim on social media. Neither Higby nor the group has said how they know this. Police have not named the student or said anything about her politics.
El-Sayed’s campaign had not responded to requests for comment by Monday, November 2. El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, in the election on Tuesday, November 3.
Timing Fuels Election-Season Tensions
The attack came in the last days of a hard-fought Senate campaign, and the video spread fast online. For many conservatives, it fits a pattern they have watched for years: speakers and activists who show up on campus to argue their views and are met with shoves, threats or worse.
What the video and the police account show is plain. A student knocked a woman to the ground in front of a crowd, officers say they saw it, and she was arrested on the spot. Prosecutors will decide what charges, if any, she will face. Benichou has said that if the goal was to scare her into silence, “it will not work.”
Sources:
thegatewaypundit.com, jpost.com, newsweek.com, nypost.com, dailywire.com, lifezette.com
