5 Chinese nationals charged with covering up midnight visit to Michigan military site
The men, who were students in the US at the time, were spotted near Camp Grayling and later found to have photos of military vehicles
US authorities charged five Chinese nationals with lying and trying to cover their tracks, more than a year after they were confronted in the dark near a remote Michigan military site where thousands of people had gathered for summer drills.
The five, who were University of Michigan students at the time, were not charged for what happened at Camp Grayling in August 2023. Rather they are accused of misleading investigators about the trip and conspiring to clear their phones of photos, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
The FBI noted in the Tuesday court filing that there have been instances of college students from China taking photos of vital defence sites in the United States.
There was nothing in the file revealing the whereabouts of the five men.
“The defendants are not in custody. Should they come into contact with US authorities, they will be arrested and face these charges,” Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Detroit, said on Wednesday.
In summer 2023, the five were confronted after midnight near a lake by a sergeant major with the Utah National Guard. One said, “We are media,” before they collected their belongings and agreed to leave the area, the FBI said.
