IU student charged with sending threatening holiday cards to university leaders demanding divestment

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- An Indiana University student is facing more than a dozen felony charges for allegedly threatening university leaders over the war between Hamas and Israel.




The suspect is charged with a dozen counts of intimidation in Hamilton County as well as two more counts in Monroe County.

It all stems from a series of threatening holiday cards mailed to university leaders, including the university president, her chief-of-staff, vice-president and many others on the Board of Trustees.




Happy holidays! While you are spending time with your family - celebrating from the comfort of your home - Israel is decimating Gaza and committing ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. You are in a unique position in which you have the power to do something, to leverage your power and demand severance of financial ties to genocide. We demand disclosure, divestment, resignation and restoration. You have until Jan. 13th to meet these demands or we will escalate to match the severity of the situation. We will not rest until YOU are no longer complicit. Sincerely, The IU Divestment Coalition




That letter was mailed to multiple members of IU's Board of Trustees, from basketball legend Quinn Buckner to lesser-known trustees like Jill Burnett and Cathy Langham, along with several others, although Buckner's card was misdelivered.

Court records claim 22-year-old IU student Maria McComish sent the threatening holiday cards.




"We do not live in a society where it's acceptable to try to influence people's actions by threatening them," said Hamilton County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joshua Kocher.




While peaceful demonstrations asking for divestment of university investments in the state of Israel are legal, prosecutors in Hamilton County hope the criminal case against McComish sends a clear message.




"This is not an acceptable way to vent political frustration," said Kocher.




"It's one thing to protest, it's another thing to threaten people and come after them in their homes," said attorney Mario Massillamany.




Attorney Mario Massillamany isn't connected to the case but said threats are not protected speech, especially because the suspect allegedly took steps to research the home addresses of the victims in places like Westfield and Carmel, which is why charges were filed in Hamilton County.




"So this wasn't something in passing where she shouted something out. She took the overt act of finding out where they lived and sent cards to those home addresses threatening them," said Massillamany.








Prosecutors said the Instagram account for the IU Divestment Coalition claimed credit for the threats.




Cell phone records recovered from the suspect's phone also contained notes detailing the same language in the cards, which prosecutors believe is proof she authored the threats.




In addition to the charges in Monroe and Hamilton counties, McComish could face additional charges in at least two other counties as well.




The IU Divestment Coalition is not an official organization recognized by Indiana University.




Intimidation is a level 6 felony that carries a punishment between six months to two and a half years, but those years can be stacked for each count if the suspect is convicted.





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/iu-student-charged-with-sending-threatening-holiday-cards-to-university-leaders-demanding-divestment-from-israel/