Outside Goodman Acker law firm
No charges have been filed as police and the FBI continue to investigate the June 3 vandalism of the Goodman Acker law firm in Southfield that the city's police chief describes as a hate crime.
Southfield Police Chief Elvin V. Barren told Deadline Detroit Tuesday that at least one person of interest has been identified in an attack that appears related to sentiments about the Israel-Gaza war.
In the early morning hours, vandals defaced the law firm's exterior sign with spray paint and wrote phrases on the wall and sidewalk, "FREE PALESTINE," "DIVEST NOW," "FUCK YOU ACKER" and "UM KILLS." One of the partners in the firm is University of Michigan Board of Regent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish.
"This is going to take some time," Barren said of the probe. "The evidence has to be processed. We have a person of interest."
Southfield Chief Elvin Barren
"We're working with the FBI, we're working with the State Police, Ann Arbor Police and Huntington Woods Police. We're all putting information in a basket and communicating. This is not going to be overnight.
"I look at it as a hate crime. Now when you talk to a prosecutor or a decision maker, they may feel differently."
Shortly after the attack, the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP), a Palestinian-American group based in Westland, said the graffiti attack on the law firm was offensive and hurtful,
