US reviews occupation of University of Washington building by pro-Palestinian protesters

The US government says it will review an incident at the University of Washington in which pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a university building while demanding the school cut ties with Boeing BA.N over its contracts with the Israeli military.

The Trump administration labeled the incident as antisemitic activity. While it praised the university and law enforcement officials for their response, it urged the school to take enforcement actions and make policy changes.

The university says thirty pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied the building late on Monday were arrested, and charges of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct would be referred to prosecutors.

Boeing gave the school a $10 million donation for an engineering building in 2022.

“The Task Force’s review is in response to the eruption of antisemitic harassment and violence that occurred Monday, May 5 at UW’s campus in Seattle,” the US Education Department, Health Department and General Services Administration says in a statement.

The university had no immediate comment after the Trump administration statement.

The protest group, called Super UW, said police had removed the students who occupied the building. It also said 30 people were taken into custody but some were released.

The Trump administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against Israel’s military assault on Gaza following Palestinian Hamas militants’ October 2023 attack in Israel.

The administration has attempted to deport some protesters, and rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns.

Trump casts the protests as antisemitic and as sympathetic to Hamas.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.