On Wednesday February 9, 2023, the University of Michigan welcomed a variety of military and government recruiters into its Career Fair in Ann Arbor. The U.S. Navy, the National Security Agency, and other militaristic organizations, were provided stands to promote US imperialism and occupation– and to recruit many young students to their ranks.
In protest, a series of disruptions against these recruiters took place throughout the day. Multiple people pushed passed the registration desk carrying banners that said “Stop Camp Grayling” and chanting “No prisons, no borders, fuck your law and order”, emphasizing the Army’s plan to expand an already massive and environmentally-damaging National Guard training facility in Grayling, Michigan. The actions converged in a rally outside of the career fair, where protesters chanted “Stop Cop City” and “Fascist, racist all the way, US army, go away!” and passed out flyers to incoming students to warn them against working for the US war machine.
Another group sprayed red food coloring on the NSA and U.S. Navy displays, and were then detained for several hours while the U of M police refused to give information about their whereabouts or status to concerned friends and supporters. They were eventually released, but this just demonstrates how the University of Michigan continues to support the military industrial complex by unlawfully holding detainees for extended time and refusing to provide information on them to outsiders.
We will not stand by while the University of Michigan continues to support and help recruit people into the US military-industrial complex. We will not stand by while the state expands its capacity to brutally repress our communities by expanding Camp Grayling in Michigan and building Cop City in Atlanta.
2, 4, 6, 8, FUCK THE POLICE STATE
Submitted anonymously over email