Federal Probe Launched After Violent Protest Rocks University of Washington

[Social Media]

 

Federal Probe Launched After Violent Protest Rocks University of Washington

 

A turbulent protest at the University of Washington has triggered a federal antisemitism investigation, after a group of anti-Israel activists vandalized a campus building, causing more than $1 million in damages and prompting strong condemnation from university and government officials alike.

 

Complete chaos is ensuing at the University of Washington after pro-Palestinians took over a building and began committing arson on campus.

Enough of the violence—this is not free speech, it’s criminal behavior.

BREAKING: Complete chaos is ensuing at the University of Washington after pro-Palestinians took over a building and began committing arson on campus.

Enough of the violence—this is not free speech, it’s criminal behavior. pic.twitter.com/7bLdxXH1ku

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) May 6, 2025

 

The protest erupted on May 5 when approximately 75 demonstrators, many dressed in black, took over the university’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building. Organized by Students United for Palestinian Equity and Return—a group previously suspended by the university—the protest was aimed at pressuring the school to sever ties with Boeing due to its defense contracts with the Israeli Defense Forces.

 

Here’s a copy of the pro-Hamas chant this evening at the University of Washington in Seattle. The far-left activists seem to recruit clueless people. They just protest for the sake of protesting

 

 

The protest quickly escalated into chaos, with activists smashing windows, setting fires, and barricading doors with furniture. According to local news outlet KOMO-TV, expensive manufacturing equipment was among the property damaged during the occupation.

 

https://www.washington.edu/president/2025/05/06/condemning-violent-and-illegal-occupation-of-the-ieb/

 

In response, police arrested 32 individuals, not all of whom were students. The incident drew the immediate attention of the Trump administration, which launched a formal antisemitism review and publicly denounced the protest as an act of “anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”

 

Antifa joins pro-Hamas protestors to take the @UW engineering building hostage. These are not scenes from The Last of Us, it's real life.

Antifa joins pro-Hamas protestors to take the @UW engineering building hostage.

These are not scenes from The Last of Us, it's real life. pic.twitter.com/KiX38ej8b4

— Canary Mission (@canarymission) May 6, 2025

 

“This was no peaceful protest in support of Palestinian rights or against the war in Gaza,” said University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce in a sharply worded email to the university community. “I condemn this dangerous, violent and illegal building occupation and related vandalism.” She added that the building was constructed with a $10 million donation from Boeing, underlining the symbolic and financial gravity of the attack.

 

The University of Washington was set on fire while pro-Hamas students chanted ‘death to the police'.

The University of Washington was set on fire while pro-Hamas students chanted ‘death to the police'.

❌No outrage from Democrats.
❌No accountability from university officials.
❌No front page coverage from fake news media.

This is exactly why @EDSecMcMahon is taking on woke… pic.twitter.com/BrqfAL9HUB

— Erika Donalds (@ErikaDonalds) May 6, 2025

 

The federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which is spearheading the review, said the demonstration went far beyond political expression. “Pro-terror protestors demanded that the university divest from Boeing due to the company’s military contracts linked to the Gaza conflict,” the task force stated. “The ‘protestors’ actions included barricading and occupying an engineering building on campus for hours, setting property on fire, and shouting death threats to law enforcement.”

 

 

While acknowledging the university’s swift condemnation and the actions taken by campus security, the task force emphasized that more robust measures are needed. “While these are good first steps, the university must do more to deter future violence and guarantee that Jewish students have a safe and productive learning environment,” the statement read. “The Task Force expects the institution to follow up with enforcement actions and policy changes that are clearly necessary to prevent these uprisings moving forward.”

 

Education Secretary Linda McMahon echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that such behavior would not be tolerated. “The Task Force will not allow these so-called ‘protesters’ to disrupt campus life and deprive students, especially Jewish students who live in fear on campus, of their equal opportunity protections and civil rights,” she said. Her statement was joined by remarks from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, signaling the broad federal attention the incident has drawn.

 

President Cauce also condemned a statement from the protest group that praised the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, calling it abhorrent and disqualifying. “I also condemn in the strongest terms the group’s statement celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians,” she said. “The University will not be intimidated by this sort of horrific and destructive behavior and will not engage in dialogue with any group using or condoning such destructive tactics.”

 

Related Topics:

Democrats Face Backlash for Supporting Arrested Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil

Trump Administration Freezes Billions in Federal Funds at Cornell and Northwestern

 

  Adpated by ASEAN Now from Independent | X  2025-05-08

 

 

[Nickcage49]

Throw these bastards in prison. Protest stops when you destroy property.

[metisdead]

An off topic deflection post has been removed.

[Will B Good]

15 minutes ago, Nickcage49 said:

Throw these bastards in prison. Protest stops when you destroy property.

 

I would have to agree, and would hope (rather a forlorn one) that all protesters that behave in a violent manner, are treated equally in the eyes of the law.

[coolcarer]

6 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

 

I would have to agree, and would hope (rather a forlorn one) that all protesters that behave in a violent manner, are treated equally in the eyes of the law.

This is not about other protesters. It is about these violent scum illegally occupying a building and causing 1 million in damages in their quest to disrupt Washington Uni

[klauskunkel]

10 hours ago, Social Media said:

causing more than $1 million in damages

police arrested 32 individuals

that's a bill of $31,250 per individual, make them pay it

[BritManToo]

Return them to Palestine!

No matter what their nationality.

[Will B Good]

1 hour ago, coolcarer said:

This is not about other protesters. It is about these violent scum illegally occupying a building and causing 1 million in damages in their quest to disrupt Washington Uni

 

So other protesters who do the same.......that's okay?

[Evil Penevil]

Causing $1million in damages to a university building is not a protest but an attack. The group which led the occupation was literally acting on behalf of Hamas.  Here are the first two sentences from the explanation of their actions they posted  online (my bold text):

 

"We are taking this building amidst the current and renewed wave of the student Intifada, following the uprising of student action for Palestine after the heroic victory of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, which shattered the illusion of zionist-imperialist domination and brought Palestine to the forefront for all justice-loving people of the world.  We respond to the call made by the Palestinian student movement in Gaza to 'raise the pace and ceiling of your struggle and your honorable stances, quantitatively and qualitatively, against the institutions, corporations, and governments that participate in the slaughter of our children, our students, and our people.'"

https://medium.com/@super.uw.seattle/we-demand-uw-will-no-longer-be-complicit-in-genocide-0099dc761f92

 

Here's the link to the call by Palestinian student groups for "escalation of the global intifada:"

https://samidoun.net/2024/05/a-call-from-the-palestinian-student-movement-in-gaza-time-for-revolutionary-escalation-of-the-global-intifada/

 

The mistake the U of Washington made, just like in the past, was to not prevent the occupation.  Instead of removing occupiers after they have done the damage, the university admin should have ordered campus police to use whatever force was necessary to keep the protestors out of the building.  I doubt very much the protesters would have stood against nightsticks and pepper spray.

 

Moreover, the university and local officials need to insist the protesters are prosecuted for their crimes to the full extent of the law.  Any students should be kicked out for life.   Until those in power show some background, such violent protests and waves of destruction will continue.

[TedG]

4 hours ago, Will B Good said:

 

I would have to agree, and would hope (rather a forlorn one) that all protesters that behave in a violent manner, are treated equally in the eyes of the law.

The DAs in the big blue cities have ignored this behavior. Look at the 2020 summer of love. 

[JonnyF]

Shocking.

 

This mindless leftist terrorism needs to be dealt with now. It's gone too far.

[metisdead]

Off topic deflection posts about the J6 riot have been removed as this topic is about:

 

Federal Probe Launched After Violent Protest Rocks University of Washington

[Sir Dude]

Need to nip this nonsense in the bud and deport them so that anyone else doesn't think they can pull this BS.... these morons do not belong in the West and have nothing in common with us... nothing but a cancer in society. Deport them or lock them up as they are idiots.

[impulse]

On 5/8/2025 at 10:13 PM, Sir Dude said:

Need to nip this nonsense in the bud and deport them so that anyone else doesn't think they can pull this BS.... these morons do not belong in the West and have nothing in common with us... nothing but a cancer in society. Deport them or lock them up as they are idiots.

 

It's way too late to nip it in the bud.  The time for that was about October8 or Oct9.  They've been getting away with it for so long that it's a full blown infestation that festered under a weak administration that selectively prosecuted conservatives.

 

[Yagoda]

Lock them up and deport who you can.

[Will B Good]

On 5/8/2025 at 8:16 AM, coolcarer said:

This is not about other protesters. It is about these violent scum illegally occupying a building and causing 1 million in damages in their quest to disrupt Washington Uni

 

..........all protesters that behave in a violent manner.......I guess you didn't read that part?