FIX EXCLUSIVES
Investigators allegedly cursed at, threatened students
The University of Michigan recently terminated its contract with a private surveillance company allegedly hired to watch pro-Palestinian campus group following disruptive protests over the last few years.
A university spokesperson denied claims the school ever authorized security to stalk students. Still, experts told The College Fix the decision to hire investigators raises free speech and privacy concerns.
City Shield Security employees reportedly followed students on and off campus, recorded them, and eavesdropped on their conversations during the 2023-24 school year, according to The Guardian.
Public records from the UMich board of regents reveal the school paid Ameri-Shield, the parent company of City Shield, at least $800,000 between June 2023 and September 2024.
The school ended the contract with City Shield following the report from The Guardian, which featured videos and student testimonies alleging that investigators threatened and cursed at students.
A student named Katarina Keating, a member of a local Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, said she was targeted by the investigation. Keating described feeling “on-edge” after noticing the surveillance.
“But on another level it sometimes feels comedic because it’s so insane that they have spent millions of dollars to hire some goons to follow campus activists around,” Keating said.
However, spokesperson Brian Taylor told The College Fix “the university does not surveil individuals or student groups, nor has it requested or authorized the surveillance of any students on or off campus.”
“Unfortunately, recent media reports have mischaracterized the role of contract security personnel who were engaged solely to support campus safety efforts,” he said.
Taylor told The Fix the university had expanded security to keep watch over “potential illegal activities without escalating tension.”
UMich President Domenco Grasso released a statement in June with a similar message.
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“In July of 2024, as part of our security strategy, it was decided to augment our organic resources with outside firms to use plainclothes security personnel,” Grasso stated.
“However, we are clear: no individual or group should ever be targeted for their beliefs or affiliations,” he stated.
Grasso also acknowledged the university’s dissatisfaction with this particular private company, and condemned the behavior of the individual stalker.
“We recently learned that an employee of one of our security contractors has acted in ways that go against our values and directives. What happened was disturbing, unacceptable, and unethical, and we will not tolerate it,” he stated.
Still, the situation sparked debate about free speech on campus.
A free speech expert with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told The Fix this surveillance on campus could prompt students to self-censor.
“U-M’s surveillance can create a terrible chilling effect on students’ willingness to speak their minds and express themselves,” FIRE Program Counsel Haley Gluhanich said.
“Students will begin to look over their shoulders before seeking to use their right to free speech,” she said.
Further, FIRE intern Clare Rigney challenged the legality of the university’s actions, referencing the Supreme Court decision Healy v. James in her report on the issue.
“In Healy, the Court emphasized the danger of an institution targeting a group of students as particularly dangerous based on their viewpoint,” Rigney wrote.
This ruling “requires universities to uphold their students’ First Amendment rights. This extends even to students whose speech the university seems offensive or ‘antithetical’ to the school’s goals,” she wrote.
For another perspective, The Fix reached out to UMich Law Professor Leonard Niehoff, who is an expert in the First Amendment, via email.
Professor Niehoff declined to comment, saying that he had not had time to “study this issue closely enough to have a well-informed opinion.”
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Male security guard on walkie talkie; Andrey Popov/Canva
