SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A law firm in Oakland County was targeted by vandals “under the cloak of darkness,” according to its partners.
Southfield police Chief Elvin Barren said his department received calls around 8:15 a.m. Monday, June 3, 2024, about vandalism at the Goodman Acker law firm on 10 Mile Road.
Officers checked surveillance footage and learned that four people approached the building from the east at 1:39 a.m. Monday.
Barren said one person acted as a lookout while the other three vandalized the building. All four fled the scene at 1:46 a.m.
Southfield police collected video from Goodman Acker and other surrounding cameras. They’re working with the FBI, University of Michigan police, and Huntington Woods police.
Officials plan to release the surveillance video at some point. Anyone who witnessed the vandalism or has any information about this case is asked to call police.
Partners Barry Goodman and Jordan Acker spoke Monday afternoon one the steps of their building, saying they proudly serve all faiths and races and calling this an antisemitic attack.
Goodman said it was “a clear attempt to intimidate and spread fear.” He said the vandals came in the middle of the night, under the “cloak of darkness” and ran away because they didn’t want to take credit for their “stupidity.”
“This is a crime,” Goodman said. “They can make statements. They can protest in front of the building and walk down the sidewalk. They can have their signs. They can do everything that the Constitution allows. But they can’t do this, and we surely hope that they are caught and they are penalized to the greatest extent under the law.”
“Make no mistake that targeting individual Jewish elected officials is antisemitism,” Acker said. “This has nothing to do with Palestine or the war in Gaza or anything else. This is done as a message to scare Jews.”
Jeremy Moss, the only Jewish member of the Michigan Senate, also spoke.
“We all want the framework of a ceasefire to succeed,” Moss said. “This does not achieve that. There are horrible ongoing conflicts and tragedies all over the world that deserve our attention, and the war against the Hamas is no exception. But what makes it the exception is the obsessive focus on Israel alone that has led to incitement of harassment, threats, and now vandalism against Jews everywhere.”
Here is the surveillance video from police:
Here is video from the briefing:
Here are photos from the scene:
