Anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas protesters caused more than $1 million in damage during a violent demonstration Monday evening at the University of Washington in Seattle, according to school officials.
Police arrested 31 protesters for taking over and vandalizing the Boeing-funded Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told KOMO News on Tuesday. The protesters, who also set several nearby dumpsters on fire, demanded that the university sever ties with Boeing for supplying weapons used in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.
The protest comes as the Trump administration cracks down on anti-Semitism activity that has swept college campuses following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
The organization behind the Monday protest, Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return, is a “suspended student group,” university spokesman Victor Balta told CNN. The group has published a manifesto overtly praising Hamas’s October 7 attack and also helped organize an anti-Semitic protest on campus in February.
“What occurred [Monday] night in no way compares to last year’s encampment,” Balta told KOMO News. The protest “involved immediate threats to safety for those inside and around the building and was resolved within a few hours.”
“At least two dozen classes are being moved to other locations while the build[ing] remains closed for the rest of the week,” Balta said.
A spokesman for the pro-Hamas student group said the group plans to continue holding protests until the university divests from Boeing, telling KOMO News, “We are going to be here until our demands are met. We are here to negotiate with the university, and we are hoping they’ll hear us and speak with us.”
The protesters are now facing charges including trespassing, property destruction, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy, Balta told CNN.
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Author: Matthew Xiao
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