Some 33 protesters who occupied a UW engineering building demanding that the university cut ties with Boeing were arrested on Monday. They were subsequently released on bail.
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday an investigation into “recent incidents of anti-Semitic violence” at the University of Washington (UW) and its affiliates.
The announcement by the Departments of Education (ED), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) follows the arrest of 33 pro-Palestine protesters who occupied a UW engineering building on Monday. Protesters demanded that UW cut ties with Boeing, “one of the top suppliers of weapons to Israel,” a statement from a student group said.
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Condemning the protest, the government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement that its probe was “in response to the eruption of anti-Semitic harassment and violence” that occurred at UW’s campus in Seattle on Monday.
It said, “Pro-terror protestors demanded that the university divest from Boeing due to the company’s military contracts linked to the Gaza conflict.”
“The ‘protestors’ actions included barricading and occupying an engineering building on campus for hours, setting property on fire, and shouting death threats to law enforcement,” the statement added.
‘Policy Changes’ Expected
The Task Force said it “appreciates the university’s strong statement condemning last night’s violence” and “applauds the quick action” by law enforcement officers to remove what it called “violent criminals” from the university campus.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested the University of Washington after occupying a building and setting dumpsters on fire. The building they occupied is partially funded by Boeing, which provides military equipment to Israel. pic.twitter.com/wwxjRz4ADg
— USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) May 6, 2025
“While these are good first steps, the university must do more to deter future violence and guarantee that Jewish students have a safe and productive learning environment,” the statement added.
The Task Force said it “expects” the institution to follow up with enforcement actions and policy changes “that are clearly necessary to prevent these uprisings moving forward.”
Building Renamed to ‘Sha’ban Al-Dalou’
The group Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER) said in a statement that the 33 UW students and community members occupied “the Boeing-funded Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (EB) on UW campus for nearly 10 hours, before being violently arrested by UWPD, SPD and Washington State Troopers.”
It noted that students, faculty and community members “rallied at the building and in the street, building barricades and facing threats and violence from police in riot gear in order to support and defend those inside.”
BREAKING: University of Washington students have launched an occupation of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), calling for the university to cut ties with Boeing in solidarity with Palestine. The company is one of Israel’s largest weapons suppliers. pic.twitter.com/5iLSneaTh2
— Guy Oron (@GuyOron) May 6, 2025
“We renamed the building in honor of Palestinian engineering student Sha’ban Al-Dalou,” the statement said, adding that Sha’ban “was martyred in an ‘israeli’ bombing of a refugee camp at a hospital, where he was burned alive.”
The group said protesters were “dragged” and thrown down flights of stairs, by “cops” who “threw furniture over people’s heads, and slammed people’s bodies to the ground.”
The action by the security forces “caused multiple concussions, nerve damage, and other injuries.”
Two arrestees were taken to the hospital on Tuesday “after they were denied medical care in jail, and one person in the outside rally was assaulted by an officer and transported to the hospital via ambulance last night.”
$10m Investment from Boeing
SUPER said the protest action was taken to demand that UW cut ties with Boeing, repurpose the occupied building in a community controlled space, and “to end the repression of pro-Palestinian students, faculty, and staff.”
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“The IEB was funded through a $10 million investment from Boeing, and in return, UW has granted them control of engineering curriculum, access to research facilities, and promise to establish a ‘pipeline’ of students into the Boeing workforce,” the statement stressed.
Boeing, it said, is one of the top supplies of weapons to Israel and “plans to use this building in order to expand their ability to develop and research the weapons that are used to massacre Palestinians.”
UW President’s Statement
UW President Ana Mari Cauce said in a statement that “This was no peaceful protest” and condemned “this dangerous, violent and illegal building occupation and related vandalism.”
Cauce said the university will continue “our actions to oppose antisemitism, racism and all forms of biases so that ALL our students, faculty, staff and visitors can feel safe and welcome on campuses.”
We condemn last night’s violent and illegal occupation of a UW building. Roughly 30 people were arrested and we thank UWPD, Seattle Police and the Washington State Patrol for their assistance in a swift resolution.
Full statement: https://t.co/LwsrutEfC7 pic.twitter.com/if3cf3YXKD— University of Washington (@UW) May 6, 2025
The student group said Cauce’s condemnation of the protest as “violent” implies that the “only protests that are justified are the ‘peaceful’ ones.”
“We believe an escalation in genocide requires an escalation in our tactics and commitment. The Palestinian people and their resistance have been calling on the international community to escalate, and we are answering those calls,” SUPER said.
It stated that Palestinians have engaged in “peaceful protests” and “peace” deals, but Israel “continues to bomb them, because their goals are to displace Palestinians in order to occupy all of their land.”
The statement added that Cauce should be condemning “the violence from the cops that UW sent in to brutalize students and community members.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
” It said, “Pro-terror protestors demanded that the university divest from Boeing due to the company’s military contracts linked to the Gaza conflict.”…
Notice the wording…
pro-terror protesters? they are anti-terror, that’s the whole point!!
Nomenclature is everything. The gullible public is being brainwashed.