SEATTLE (AP) — Approximately 30 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after a demonstration at the University of Washington, where they occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building while demanding the university sever ties with Boeing. The protest occurred on Monday evening, with students from the group Super UW taking over the building and unofficially renaming it after Shaban al-Dalou, a young engineering student killed last month in an Israeli airstrike that caused an inferno outside a Gaza hospital.
The protesters called for the university to terminate any associations with Boeing, which has a factory in Renton, Washington, responsible for manufacturing commercial and military aircraft. They insisted the university should return any donations from Boeing and prohibit the company’s employees from teaching or influencing the campus community.
Eric Horford, a spokesperson for Super UW, expressed the group's objectives, stating, "We’re hoping to remove the influence of Boeing and other manufacturing companies from our educational space, period, and we’re hoping to expose the repressive tactics of the university." In a show of solidarity, another faction of the protestors dressed in black obstructed access to the building by blocking entrances with furniture and using dumpsters to barricade nearby Jefferson Road.
At around 10:30 p.m., University of Washington police, in collaboration with Seattle police, moved in to clear the building. The authorities arrested approximately 30 individuals, who now face charges of trespassing, property destruction, and disorderly conduct. The cases of those arrested will be forwarded to the King County prosecutors' office. Any students identified during the protests will be reported to the university's Student Conduct Office for further action.
This incident occurs against the backdrop of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on international students involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. college campuses. Since late March, more than 1,000 students at 160 colleges and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal statuses terminated, according to an Associated Press review of various university statements, correspondence with officials, and court records.
