Pro-Trump commentator Liz Benichou had both hands in her pockets when she asked what would happen if the student standing in front of her walked around dressed that way in Iran. The student dropped her phone, shoved Benichou to the ground with both hands and kicked at her. A man pulled the student away, but she slipped out of his grasp and headed back toward Benichou before a police officer intervened.
The confrontation took place Sunday, November 1st, on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, where Benichou was scheduled to speak at a free speech event. Two men had set up a folding table and invited students to debate whether Islam was compatible with Western values. Benichou, a Jewish conservative who wears a red Make America Great Again hat in her social media profile photo, was standing off to one side.
The student initially took issue with the men at the table. She wanted to know whether they had a permit to be on campus and clapped her hands close to one man’s face. He recoiled and told an officer that she had struck him. The student disputed his account, said other people had witnessed the exchange and accused the men of hostility toward Muslims.
Footage Eyal Yakoby posted captured the dispute at the table. When Benichou brought up Iran, the student turned away from the men and walked toward her. As The Times of Israel reported, the student told Benichou she could put a hand on her, then gave a reason for holding back. “I won’t because I’ll get arrested,” she said.
“Am I wrong? If you walked around like this in Iran, what would happen to her?” Benichou asked in footage obtained by Mediaite. The student rushed forward, knocking Benichou onto her back. As the man who intervened pulled her away from Benichou, the student continued shouting at the commentator. “Don’t f—ing talk to me like that!” she yelled.
The student wriggled free of the man who had hold of her and slipped off her backpack. An officer and another man tried to restrain her as she made her way back toward Benichou. She briefly broke the officer’s hold before he brought her to the ground. Video that Cam Higby posted shows the student struggling as the officer tried to handcuff her.
Watch the confrontation and the officer’s response here:
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— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) November 1, 2026
The student continued to yell as police escorted her toward a squad car. She shouted that she would do it again, then appeared to address Benichou directly. “I should have f—ing killed you while I had the f—ing chance, b–ch,” she said. Taylor Sharp, Benichou’s manager and the CEO of the conservative youth organization Liberty Under Fire USA, told Mediaite that Benichou injured her lower back in the fall and wanted to press charges.
University of Michigan police told the Daily Mail that officers had responded to an unpermitted gathering. The group was packing up when officers witnessed a university student assault a woman who had no affiliation with the school, according to the department. Police described the student’s status after the arrest in their statement. “The student was taken into custody, processed and released pending warrant authorization.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.