Around 30 ‘masked activists’ arrested after taking over UW building, staging blockade
May 5, 2025, 6:41 PM | Updated: May 7, 2025, 9:09 am
Seattle riot police begin removing and arresting activists who took over a building on UW's campus. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
The University of Washington (UW) Jewish Alumni organization reported that “black-clad, masked activists” took over the UW’s new engineering building Monday night.
The demonstration began at 5 p.m., but by 11:30 p.m., police began to remove people from the building, and arrested those who refused to leave.
According to a group called Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER UW), which claimed it was behind the takeover, all activists who entered the engineering building were arrested. About 30 activists have been arrested in total, as of this reporting.
The group vandalized property and started a dumpster fire, according to independent journalists on the ground, while Seattle police officers have ordered their dispersal.
UW ABLAZE: I am on campus now and ANTIFA has started a dumpster fire at the University of Washington.
This is the barrier that divides the encampment from the police who are lined up in the alley behind.
Follow for updates. pic.twitter.com/IUCAxr2fNa
— Cam Higby | America First 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) May 6, 2025
Photos posted on X show the “activists” piling furniture outside the building to block entry. University police are reportedly at the scene.
BREAKING NOW @UW: Black-clad, masked activists have TAKEN OVER the brand new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB) and are piling furniture outside to blockade it. 👇 1/4 pic.twitter.com/UwQGJoniKw
— UW_JewishAlumni (@UW_JewishAlumni) May 6, 2025
Some of those who were arrested were injured during the process and require medical attention, a spokesperson for SUPER UW told ABC News.
The takeover’s intended purpose
SUPER UW launched this takeover to make UW sever its ties with Boeing, as the war in Gaza continues. The organization wants the university to stop receiving any funding or donations from Boeing.
Boeing donated approximately $10 million for the construction of the $90 million new engineering building. UW has previously stated that its relationship with Boeing dates back “more than a century.”
“Return any existing donations, financial investments, and eliminate all other material ties to Boeing,” SUPER UW stated. “Prohibit Boeing executives and employees from teaching classes or having any influence over curriculum.”
Boeing, in addition to being one of the premier airplane manufacturers in the world, is one of the largest defense companies in the U.S.
The Jewish Alumni organization stated that the people hung a banner on the building in an effort to rename it for a man killed last year by an airstrike. A photo posted on X shows the banner along with one person holding a Palestinian flag.
Now they’re hanging a banner, “renaming” the IEB building for a man killed last year by an airstrike, when Hamas located their command center next to his family’s tent.
Vandals are sabotaging engineering research and studying at @UW so they can make a political point. 3/4 pic.twitter.com/O3gxHKAf5W— UW_JewishAlumni (@UW_JewishAlumni) May 6, 2025
UW released a statement regarding this situation:
The UW is committed to maintaining a secure learning and research environment, and strongly condemns this illegal building occupation and the antisemitic statement that was issued by a suspended student group Monday. The University will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms.”
Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest
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