Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced Wednesday that her office is investigating Students for Justice in Palestine over possible ties to fundraising for Islamic terrorist organizations, issuing formal demands for financial records from the group's Mizzou chapter and its national leadership. The move lands squarely in the middle of a separate, ongoing federal court fight over whether University of Missouri System President Mun Choi violated the group's free speech rights by barring it from campus Homecoming parades.
Hanaway said her office is investigating a student group with a University of Missouri chapter for possible ties to fundraising for Islamic terrorists, according to a news release cited by ABC 17 News. She cited public reports from independent organizations that raised concerns about SJP fundraising representations and alleged links to organizations whose resources may ultimately reach radical Islamist terrorist groups, per that same report. The Anti-Defamation League has alleged that SJP used foreign terrorist organization rhetoric on social media, including posts the group says praised the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The state's Civil Investigative Demand, served on National Students for Justice in Palestine, leans on Section 407.020 of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which makes it unlawful to use deception, fraud, misrepresentation or omission of material facts when soliciting charitable funds, according to the Missouri Attorney General's Office. The demand requires the organization to produce financial records, recipient identity documents and solicitation materials covering January 1, 2021, to the present — records investigators say could help trace whether funds collected in Missouri were vetted or transferred to radical organizations.
Subpoena-Like Power Behind the Demand
Stephanie Whitaker, the attorney general's communications director, described the Civil Investigative Demands as “our version of subpoena power” in an interview with JNS. She said that if Students for Justice in Palestine fails to respond, the state will seek a judicial order to compel compliance. The demand covers the organization's chapters on public campuses in Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis, illustrating the statewide reach of the inquiry.
Mizzou SJP pushed back Wednesday afternoon in a statement posted to Instagram, saying its advocacy is law-abiding and peaceful and that it has spent the last three years focused on bringing awareness to what it calls the ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel. The group said Hanaway is targeting the organization because of what it describes as the state's unlawful attempts to censor it. The group has criticized Israel's war in Gaza and has accused Israel of genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip since Hamas's October 2023 terror attack.
Homecoming Parade Fight Reaches Federal Appeals Court
The financial investigation and the Eighth Circuit oral arguments both took place Wednesday, according to KBIA. Court records reviewed by the station show Mizzou SJP's original 2024 Homecoming float application was approved by student organizers to showcase traditional Palestinian dance and banners reading “Ceasefire Now” and “Stop the Genocide,” before Choi personally intervened three days before the parade to ban the entry, citing safety concerns and pointing to protest conduct at other universities nationwide.
That exclusion led to litigation that produced a preliminary injunction a year earlier: in September 2025, U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough ruled that Choi likely violated Mizzou SJP's First Amendment rights by excluding the group from the parade based on its political views on Palestine and Israel, according to KCUR. That ruling allowed Mizzou SJP to march in the parade for the first time. The Eighth Circuit case now underway will determine whether that finding holds on appeal.
Part of a Broader Legal Strategy
Wednesday's investigation is not Hanaway's first move against groups she links to Middle East terror financing. In October 2025, Hanaway joined a 21-state federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on behalf of victims of the October 7 attack, accusing domestic advocacy organizations of serving as public-relations tools for Hamas in violation of the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, as Hoodline previously reported.
National SJP claimed it had more than 200 chapters as of 2018, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Missouri's move comes amid earlier Florida actions against the group: Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered two Florida SJP chapters shut down, but Chancellor Ray Rodrigues later said the state would hold off, according to Jewish Currents.
ABC 17 News reported it had asked Hanaway's office for more details related to the allegations against SJP. It remains unresolved whether the student group will comply with the demands by the statutory deadline or challenge them in court, and how the Eighth Circuit will ultimately rule on Mizzou's parade ban.
