Dozens arrested after pro-Palestinian protesters occupy University of Washington building

By Hanna Park and Martin Goillandeau, CNN

(CNN) — More than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Monday after occupying an engineering building at the University of Washington, where they demanded the university sever ties with Boeing over the aerospace giant’s military contracts and its role in supplying weapons used in the war in Gaza.

The occupation of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building began shortly before the building closed at 5 p.m. Monday, according to Victor Balta, a spokesperson for the university. The engineering building was partially funded by a $10 million donation from Boeing, according to the university’s website.

“Individuals who mostly covered their faces blocked access to two streets outside the building, blocked entrances and exits to the building and ignited fires in two dumpsters on a street outside,” Balta said in a statement to CNN.

The university spokesperson said “about 30 individuals” inside the building were arrested. Charges including trespassing, property destruction, disorderly conduct and conspiracy will be referred to county prosecutors, Balta said, noting any students among them will also be referred to the Student Conduct Office.

Protesters called for the building to be renamed after a teenage engineering student who they say was killed in an airstrike in Gaza. A banner was hung from a second-floor window of the building during the occupation, CNN affiliate KOMO reported.

Officers with Washington State Patrol’s Rapid Deployment Teams entered the building along with campus police and Seattle police, Washington State Patrol spokesperson Chris Loftis told CNN. Local firefighters responded to the fires outside, Lotis noted.

Authorities began clearing the area outside the building at around 10:30 p.m. and started removing the protesters inside about half an hour later, Balta said.

Officers were seen escorting multiple detained people from the building, according to footage from KOMO. Crowds outside could be heard continuing to chant.

It’s unclear whether those arrested were students. Earlier the university spokesperson said anyone remaining in the building after it closed would be considered trespassing and will “face legal and student conduct actions.”

The demonstration appears to have been organized by Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER) UW, a student group advocating for Palestinian rights, according to the group’s social media pages.

Posts on the group’s page claimed “UW students are occupying the Boeing-funded Engineering Building on campus to protest the university’s ties to Boeing.”

CNN reached out to campus and Seattle police, the fire department, the Washington State Patrol and Boeing for comment.

The group’s post on the rally urged supporters to “wear a mask and cover (identifiable) features” and directed readers to the group’s manifesto published online.

Besides laying out demands for the university to cut ties with Boeing, the manifesto ties the group’s actions to the wider student movement in support of Palestinian rights and praises the terror attacks on Israel carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, using language similar to how Hamas describes the attacks.

Super UW is a “suspended student group” at the university, according to Balta, who denounced the group’s statement about the occupation as “antisemitic.”

“The University will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms,” Balta said.

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