Ann Arbor, Michigan - The University of Michigan is reportedly employing private investigators to aggressively trail and surveil pro-Palestine students on and off campus.

The Guardian reported the allegations shared by five students, who see the surveillance as an intimidation tactic intended to chill their activism.

According to the outlet, records show the university paid at least $800,000 between June 2023 and September 2024 to the parent company of private security group City Shield.

Some of the information the investigators gathered was used to charge and jail student activists who participated in last year's campus protests.

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Most of those charges were later dismissed amid accusations state Attorney General Dana Nessel had exercised prosecutorial bias.

Nessel in April had ordered a multi-agency raid on activists, whose homes were violently broken into over allegations of "vandalism."

Students targeted by City Shield have now divulged the bizarre and concerning experiences they have had since their university-sponsored surveillance.

Videos captured by a student named Josiah Walker and shared with The Guardian show an investigator appearing to fake a disability when confronted. Further footage shows the same white investigator yelling at Walker, who is Black, accusing him of trying to intimidate him and steal his wallet.

Walker said on another occasion, he noticed people following him and recording him, so he began recording back. While in the university parking lot, one of the cars he was recording sped up, forcing him to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit.

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Another student, Katrina Keating, said she often looks over her shoulder since she started being followed in November.

Keating and Walker are both members of the pro-Palestine group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality.

The University of Michigan did not deny the surveillance in a statement, claiming: "Any security measures in place are solely focused on maintaining a safe and secure campus environment and are never directed at individuals or groups based on their beliefs or affiliations."