Michigan Dismisses Hockey Player for Alleged Hate Crime

With its season beginning Saturday, the University of Michigan hockey team has removed sophomore defenseman Johnny Druskinis from the roster for allegedly defacing property near the university's Jewish Resource Center in August. 

“Johnny Druskinis is no longer on the Michigan Hockey roster, following a violation of team rules," a Michigan spokesperson said in a statement, as reported by the Detroit Free Press.

The Ann Arbor Police released a statement via social media on Tuesday afternoon once the story went public. The statement confirmed that two suspects vandalized the sidewalk of the resource center on Aug. 22. At 5 p.m., a male suspect spray painted a depiction of male genitalia and a homophobic slur, and a female suspect spray painted her initials on the sidewalk, as other students walked by, according to police.

Ann Arbor police released video of the incident, asking the public for help identify the two students committing the vandalism. A grassroots watchdog group called StopAntisemitism said in a statement to the Free Press that multiple Michigan students reported Druskinis' identity to the group.

Despite the identifications, resource center director Rabbi Fully Eisenberger declined to press charges, Tuesday's statement confirmed.

"Druskinis is a Michigan student first and a hockey player second," StopAntisemitism executive director Liora Rez said. "Fighting the nationwide campus antisemitism crisis requires recognizing that adults bear responsibility for their actions; if Michigan believed his disgusting behavior warranted dismissal from the hockey team, they should seriously consider suspending or expelling him from the university."

Druskinis enrolled at Michigan in 2022. He played in eight games for the Wolverines last year in his freshman season and recorded two assists.