On Tuesday, Seattle police dismantled a chaotic anti-Israel protest at Washington University, leading to 30 arrests as protesters took control of the science building and set a dumpster on fire overnight.
The Super UW Group occupied the interdisciplinary engineering building late Monday, blocking access and creating a fire hazard just outside.
“Following the significant events of October 7th and the surge of Palestinian student activism, we’ve taken over this building as part of a new wave of student protests aimed at challenging the dominance of Zionism and imperialism,” a representative shared.
The protesters specifically demanded that the university sever ties with Boeing, citing the company’s defense contracts with the U.S. military and its previous donation of $10 million to the school in 2022.
“We aim to eliminate Boeing’s influence from our education system and reveal the oppressive actions of the university,” stated a spokesperson for Super UW.
During their occupation, the group displayed a banner renaming the building after Shaban Al-Daroo, an engineering student who tragically died, along with his mother, during an Israeli airstrike near a Gaza Hospital.
Arriving just before the building’s 5 p.m. closure, the protesters barricaded themselves inside with furniture and wore masks.
The situation escalated, prompting UW and Seattle police to intervene around 11 p.m. after the fire intensified, and arrests were still underway until 3 a.m., when the last protester was removed.
The university reported that those arrested would face charges including trespassing, property damage, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy related to these offenses.
Furthermore, the university condemned the entire Super UW protest as an expression of anti-Semitism and decided to suspend the group from campus.
“The university will not tolerate such offensive and destructive actions and reaffirms its stance against all forms of anti-Semitism,” the statement concluded.
