Multiple fires were set by Antifia militants at the University of Washington campus in Seattle on Monday night. A group of black bloc Antifa occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering building and blockaded the doors. The building opened just a few weeks ago and the $100 million price tag was funded by private donors, taxpayers, a federal grant, Amazon, T-Mobile and Boeing.

Activists blocked streets with bike racks and dumpsters and set them on fire.

The fires were set around 10:30 pm local time and neither police nor fire fighters were on the scene as the fire grew. The university had lost complete control of the campus.

About 20 agitators were inside the building while another 60 were outside. When a private security vehicle approached, Antifa radicals dressed in black bloc with shields and forced it to retreat. University police called in the Seattle Police Department and the Washington State Patrol for assistance. Negotiators from SPD were also forced to fall back by the mob after law enforcement retreated.

“ANTIFA has mobilized bike racks and statues from UW campus and placed them in the streets,” Cam Higby reported. “There are at least 4 busses and several cars completely backed up on the streets surrounding the encampment building.”

Suspended student group Super UW and Antifa were seen bringing in food, water, coolers, and chairs to the building for the occupation, stating that they refused to leave until the university met its list of demands, which included rejecting any donations from the Boeing and terminating any investments. Activists also demanded that Boeing executives and employees be prohibited from teaching classes or creating any curriculum.

Members of the UW administration were photographed sitting inside a building across the street, “monitoring” as the radicals took furniture out of the brand new building to build a barricade.

Once authorities arrived, they issued dispersal orders, which were not heeded by the radicals. Fire fighters doused the flames and entered the building to remove the militants, who were protesting the university’s relationship with Boeing, which they link to Israel.

A dispersal order was issued to the activists by police at 10:30 pm local time in response to the fires. Radicals responded by calling for reinforcements and setting up to attack police officers.

Police began entering the building at 11 pm. Activists could be heard yelling at officers, “Death to the police,” “Abolish the police,” and “Every police death is a victory for the resistance.” 

Arrests were made as the occupiers were removed from the buidling. 

Officers swept the building to remove all the activists. Multiple radicals were seen being brought out of the building in handcuffs.

While agitators were facing arrest, a militant said “My favorite thing that I love seeing is when the resistance in Palestine shoots an Israeli tank and kills them. Y’know the same goes for the cops, honestly.”

Countering that, someone else said sarcastically that his favorite thing is “when they throw gay people from buildings in Gaza.”

“UW police are on-site at the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, which was occupied by a few dozen individuals starting just before the building closed at 5 p.m,” UW told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI in a statement.

“The trespassers are mostly covering their faces and stacking building furniture near entryways. To the best of our knowledge, everyone connected to the UW who does not want to be inside the building has left. Individuals remaining in the building are trespassing and will face legal and student conduct actions. Since this is an ongoing police matter, for security reasons, we have no additional information to share at this time.”

Super UW organized the action and demanded that the university cut ties with Boeing because of its role as a weapons supplier for the Israel Defense Forces. The group had been suspended for its role in causing over $50,000 in damage to the Husky Union Building last year during a similar action.

“We are taking this building amidst the current and renewed wave of the student Intifada,” the occupiers wrote in their manifesto, “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.” This represents a glorification of the massacre carried out by terrorists against Israel in October 2023.

“Monday evening, a number of individuals temporarily occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building and created a dangerous environment in and around the building,” a UW spokesperson told Hoffman following the arrests.

“As law enforcement from several agencies assembled to respond, individuals who mostly covered their faces blocked access to two streets outside the building, blocked entrances and exits to the building, and ignited fires in two dumpsters on a street outside. UW police worked with law enforcement partners to contain the situation and began clearing the area outside the building around 10:30 p.m. before moving into the building to clear it at 11 p.m. About 30 individuals who occupied the building were arrested, and charges of trespassing, property destruction, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy to commit all three will be referred to the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Any students identified as being involved will also be referred to the Student Conduct Office.”
 
According to the statement, “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.”  

This follows an occupation in the spring of 2024 in which agitators occupied the quad and set up an encampment which remained in place for three weeks. Jewish students were blocked from traversing the campus, and buildings were regularly vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. Crews sent to clean up the mess saw their vehicles and equipment regularly damaged.

The encampment eventually disbanded after UW caved to the demands of a violent Gaza encampment and agreed to form the “Faculty Committee on Scholarship of Palestine” to “examine opportunities to deepen our expertise in the scholarship of Palestine into a range of existing academic units.”