At least 30 demonstrators were arrested Monday night after anti-Israel protesters at the University of Washington occupied an engineering building, prompting a police response that included officers in riot gear.
The protest, organized by the student group Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return, called on the university to divest from Boeing. The group said the aerospace company contributed $10 million to help fund the building and accused Boeing of producing weapons used by Israel in Gaza.
“The University of Washington is a direct partner in the genocide of the Palestinian people through its allegiance to its partnership with Boeing,” the group said in a post on social media Monday night. The group encouraged supporters to join the protest while concealing their identities, writing, “Wear a mask, and cover identifiable features.”
“We refuse to be complicit while our education is directly funded and controlled by a corporation whose business leads to a mass genocide of Palestinian people,” the group said. “These bombs, missiles, and other weapons of destruction are made possible through Boeing’s access to UW’s campus, research facilities, and student labor.”
Protesters blocked streets and set dumpsters on fire outside the building. Inside, demonstrators locked themselves in and hung a banner symbolically renaming the facility the “Sha’ban Al-Dalou Building,” after a 19-year-old Palestinian killed in an Israeli airstrike last year. During the occupation, one protester was heard yelling, “Abolish the police. Every cop dead is a victory for the resistance.”
The university condemned the demonstration and accused the protesters of creating a “dangerous environment” on campus. University police, alongside local law enforcement, began clearing the area around 10:30 pm and entered the building at 11 pm. Roughly 30 individuals were arrested and face charges including trespassing, property destruction, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy to commit these crimes, according to a report by Fox News.
“The UW is committed to maintaining a secure learning and research environment and strongly condemns this illegal building occupation and the antisemitic statement that was issued by a suspended student group Monday,” the university said in a statement. “The University will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms.”
