Trump And University Of Washington Condemn Anti-War Activists' Occupation Of Boeing-Funded Building

What does the Trump administration and the University of Washington have in common? They both vilify student-led, anti-war movements that in 50 years every liberal institution will pretend they always supported. 

On Monday night, police arrested 33 students and community members who occupied a UW building to protest the University’s ties to war profiteers, particularly those fueling Israel’s ongoing, US-backed genocide in Gaza.

Like clockwork, both the Trump administration and UW administration rushed to paint the protests as violent and antisemitic. With President Donald Trump’s penchant for deporting political dissidents and the University incentivized to clap back hard to hold on to federal funding, the protesters have one last shield against political retaliation: strong public support. Organizers call on the UW and greater Seattle to stand with them in a rally in front of Gerberding Hall on Thursday at 1pm to show support for those arrested and send a strong message to their detractors that they won’t back down.

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At about 5pm on Monday, SUPER UW, a student group that advocates for Palestinian liberation, launched an occupation of the campus’s new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building to demand the UW cut ties with war merchant Boeing. According to a post on social media, SUPER UW targeted that particular building because Boeing donated $10 million toward its construction in 2022. Boeing manufactured more missiles and munitions for Israel between the years 2021-2023 than any other company.

The group took over the building for several hours and renamed it Sha’ban Al-Dalou Building in honor of a 19 year-old software engineer who burned to death in his hospital bed after the Israeli military bombed Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital complex in Deir el-Balah last October. 

Instead of negotiating with the protesters, UW sent in the UW Police Department (UWPD), the Seattle Police Department (SPD), and Washington State Patrol (WSP) to forcibly remove the protesters. The cops arrested 33 people. Five protesters have already had a hearing in court as of Tueaday and the other 27 will have hearings Wednesday. So far, the Court has found probable cause for criminal trespass in the first degree for four protesters.

The following morning, UW President Ana Mari Cauce released a statement calling the occupation and related vandalism (she accused them of setting a dumpster on fire, a claim  The Daily UW verifies), “dangerous, violent and illegal.”

“This was no peaceful protest in support of Palestinian rights or against the war in Gaza,” Cauce wrote. “...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.”

In a statement on social media, SUPER UW argued Cauce should be instead condemning the cops “sent in to brutalize” the protesters.

“UWPD and SPD dragged and threw people down flights of stairs, threw furniture over people’s heads, and slammed people’s bodies into the ground,” SUPER UW wrote. “The cops caused multiple concussions, nerve damage, and other injuries.”

So far, no evidence has emerged of any violent behavior from the students, but the UW estimates the action will cost $1 million in property damage. SUPER UW also maintained the moment necessitated an escalation in their tactics.

“The Palestinian people and their resistance have been calling on the international community to escalate, and we are answering those calls,” SUPER UW wrote. 

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But UW may have to weigh the importance of international solidarity against keeping their federal funding.

Later Tuesday evening, the Trump administration announced, in a scathing press release, it will launch a “review of recent incidents of anti-Semitic violence,” in response to Monday’s occupation. The Trump administration and Cauce, who also alluded to antisemitism in their statement, did not specify what they found antisemitic about the demonstration against UW’s ties to war-profiteers. 

So far, the Trump administration is pleased with UW’s reaction to the protesters. 

“The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism appreciates the university’s strong statement condemning last night’s violence and applauds the quick action by law enforcement officers to remove violent criminals from the university campus,” a press release from the Trump administration read. “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 Task Force expects the institution to follow up with enforcement actions and policy changes that are clearly necessary to prevent these uprisings moving forward.”

The Trump administration appears to be threatening the University’s funding. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr emphasized the investigation's goal to ensure a “federally funded university is upholding the law, protecting civil rights, and fostering a safe environment for all students."

In March, the U.S. Department of Education sent letters to 60 colleges and universities, including UW, warning them that the new administration would cut federal funding if they don’t crack down on Pro-Palestine demonstrations, which the Trump administration deemed antisemitic as a rule. 

UW’s battle with pro-Palestine activists predates Trump’s second term and his threat of retaliatory cuts. But now the UW knows the stakes are higher --- Trump wants to deport pro-Palestine protesters. Public admonishments that would have previously read as Cauce flexing power to students, now carry the concering scent of premature capitulation. Time will tell how far UW will go to defend their federal funding.

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