Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after occupying University of Washington building

SEATTLE (AP) — Police arrested about 30 pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied a University of Washington engineering building and demanded the school break ties with Boeing.

Students from the group Super UW moved into the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building in Seattle on Monday evening and unofficially renamed it after Shaban al-Dalou, a teenage engineering student who was killed along with his mother after an Israeli airstrike caused an inferno outside of a Gaza hospital.

The students demanded that the university sever all ties with Boeing, including returning any Boeing donations and barring the company’s employees from teaching at or otherwise influencing the school. Boeing has a factory in nearby Renton that makes commercial and military aircraft, according to its website.

“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,” Super UW spokesperson Eric Horford told KOMO News.

Another group dressed in black blocked the front of the building with furniture and used dumpsters to block nearby Jefferson Road.

Parse.ly - related stories

Boeing doesn’t expect the US trade war with China to slow its recovery

 

Tariff turmoil: How Tesla and other companies are dealing with the trade war’s uncertainty

 

Unemployment benefits for striking workers being considered in Oregon, Washington

 

UW police worked with Seattle police to clear the building at around 10:30 p.m., UW spokesperson Victor Balta said in a statement. About 30 people were taken into custody and charged with trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, he said. Their cases will be referred to the King County prosecutors.

Any students identified will be referred to the Student Conduct Office, Balta said.

The arrests come amid a Trump administration crackdown on international students who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. colleges and universities. More than 1,000 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records.