Nine Google employees have been arrested protesting the tech giant’s contract with the Israeli military. (Credit: Justice Speaks)
Googlers Against Genocide protesters were arrested Tuesday after holding a 10-hour sit-in protesting the tech giant’s contract with the Israeli government.
Jane Chan, a spokeswoman for the protesters, said in a press release that nine employees from offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California, were arrested during Tuesday’s sit-in.
“Last night, Google made the decision to arrest our own employees instead of engaging with our concerns about Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with Israel.” the employee statement said.
“Sitting in Thomas Kurian’s office, we have repeatedly requested to speak to the CEO of Google Cloud, but our requests have been denied,” they said.
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Google employees protested the tech giant’s contract with the Israeli military and the company’s alleged complicity in the Israel-Hamas war. (Apartheid has no technology/FOX News)
This comes after Google issued a statement saying that Project Nimbus is “not intended for highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads related to weapons or intelligence.” , protesters claimed the company was telling “blatant lies.”
“Given Google’s blatant lies, we will not remain silent. We joined the call for Tech for Apartheid,” they said.
“We persist despite Google’s attempts to silence us and ignore our concerns,” they said. “We will continue to organize and fight until Google cancels Project Nimbus and stops aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide and apartheid state in Palestine.”
arrestee in new york city
Video of the New York City arrest obtained by Fox News Digital shows New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers calmly entering Google’s headquarters and telling employees they will be arrested if they don’t leave.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have repeatedly asked you to leave, your access to company property has been removed, and you have been placed on administrative leave,” an NYPD official said. “Please leave for the last time.”
“We are not leaving,” protesters can be heard saying.
Google employees stage a sit-in at Google’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. (Apartheid has no technology/FOX News)
Police told the employees that if they agreed to stand up and leave Google’s offices, they would be “ok.”
“I work for the New York City Police Department and I wear a body-worn camera,” the officer said. “Listen, I’m going to have you walk out the door right now, and if you’re willing to leave, that’s fine.”
“If you don’t, you’ll be arrested for trespassing,” the police officer said.
“Yes, we are not leaving,” the demonstrator said.
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On Tuesday, April 16, nine Google employees were arrested at headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, and New York City. (Credit: Justice Speaks)
bay area arrests
Google employees were also arrested at the company’s Sunnyvale, California, headquarters after the sit-in.
Protesters were arrested after occupying Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office to read out a list of demands.
The employees also demanded that the company stop “harassing, threatening, bullying, silencing, and censoring Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim Googlers.”
| ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Co., Ltd. | 156.88 | +0.88 | +0.56% | |
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They also ordered Google to address “health and safety issues” in the workplace resulting from “the mental health effects of working for a company that uses its workforce to enable genocide.” he demanded.
employees speak out
William Van Der Laar, a Google Cloud software engineer in Sunnyvale, Calif., said his employees’ “mental health and well-being” suffered after learning about Project Nimbus.
“As a software engineer at Google Cloud, it’s scary to think that the code I write could be used by the Israeli military to commit the first-ever AI genocide. Our mental health and well-being as workers. As we learn more about Plan Nimbus and watch the atrocities committed against Palestinians unfold in Gaza, the people suffer more and more.
“Apartheid Doesn’t Need Technology” protesters in California on Tuesday, April 16. (Apartheid has no technology/FOX News)
Hassan Ibraheem, a Google software engineer in New York City, claimed that Google was “complicated in the genocide of Palestinians.”
“Google is directly contributing to the genocide of the Palestinian people by providing cloud and AI infrastructure to the Israeli military.” “It is my responsibility to do everything in my power to terminate this agreement while Google pretends that nothing is wrong.
“So many people don’t realize how complicit their companies are, and it’s our job to make sure they understand,” Ibraheem said.
Approximately 30 employees gathered in Sunnyvale, California to protest In Sunnyvale, California, approximately 30 employees gathered to protest. (Apartheid has no technology/FOX News)
Mohammad Khatami, a Google software engineer in New York City, said the sit-in came after Google “ignored” the demands of its employees.
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“Google has ignored our demands, stifled internal debate, openly lied, and blatantly attacked workers simply for speaking out against the company’s military contracts with the genocidal and apartheid Israeli regime.” This was an act of retaliation,” Khatami said. “Project Nimbus is a major workplace health and safety concern for Googlers.”
“No Technology for Apartheid” protesters held up a large sign inside Google’s headquarters in California on Tuesday, April 16th. (Apartheid has no technology/FOX News)
The Alphabet union, which represents about 1,200 Google employees, said in a press release that it “deplores” the company’s decision to arrest and place protesting employees on administrative leave.
“Yesterday, Google employees in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, Calif. [a] “This is a peaceful protest against Google’s participation in Project Nimbus, a cloud computing agreement between Google, Amazon, and the Israeli government and military,” the statement said.
“The protests culminated in the arrest and forcible removal of nine Google employees from company premises,” they said.
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The Alphabet union announced that about 24 employees were placed on leave due to the protests.
”We deplore Google’s decision to arrest and arbitrarily place employees on leave for participating in peaceful protests without engaging in substantive dialogue about their concerns.” said.
FOX Business has reached out to Google for comment.
