At least 18 people were arrested Wednesday at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, campus during an employee-led protest against the tech giant’s contracts with Israel.
KOMO News reports that the arrests occurred when a group of anti-Israel demonstrators, calling themselves “No Azure For Apartheid” and consisting of current and former Microsoft employees, gathered at the company’s headquarters around noon on Wednesday. The protesters accused Microsoft of supplying AI technology to the Israeli military that they claim is being used to “surveil, starve and kill Palestinians.”
According to the Redmond Police Department, officers initially attempted to persuade the protesters to leave the company’s private property. However, the group resisted and “became aggressive.” Some protesters poured red paint over the Microsoft sign, blocked a pedestrian bridge, and tried to create a barrier using tables and chairs taken from a nearby farmer’s market.
Microsoft responded to the demonstration, stating that it is committed to upholding its human rights standards and contractual terms of service, including in the Middle East. The company announced last week that it is conducting a thorough and independent review of recent allegations regarding the use of its Azure platform in Israel. According to a statement, “Microsoft will continue to do the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East, while supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others.”
The arrests on Wednesday followed a similar protest on Tuesday, where approximately 35 demonstrators gathered at the Microsoft campus. When informed by police that protesting was not permitted on private property, the group left without incident. However, Wednesday’s demonstration escalated, resulting in vandalism and property damage.
Tensions between some Microsoft employees and the company have been growing in recent months. In May, an employee was fired for interrupting a speech by CEO Satya Nadella to protest the contracts. Two others were terminated in April for disrupting the company’s 50th anniversary celebration.
The 18 individuals arrested on Wednesday could face charges including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction. No injuries were reported during the incident.
Microsoft joins the ranks of tech giants facing employee revolt for working with Israel. Last year, Breitbart News reported on multiple actions by Google employees against their employer’s Israel contracts, including holding a protest in an executives office:
The activist group No Tech for Apartheid was responsible for organizing the protest in Sunnyvale, according to the group’s website. The group reportedly entered the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and demanded that Google stop business with Israel and withdraw from Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with Israel it signed in 2021.
In a video posted to X, a man is seen telling the employees that they have been placed on administrative leave and asking them to leave.
“It’s getting kinda late…I wanted to ask you, you know, to cooperate, you know, you’ve been placed on admin leave, and, you know, we’d like to see if you’d just voluntarily, you know, so it’s been a while, so, can you do that for us?” the man says, asking them to leave, as they occupied the office for more than eight hours.
Read more at KOMO News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
