Police officers have arrested 18 people demonstrating in a pro-Palestine protest outside of Microsoft’s global headquarters in Washington state.
The tech giant’s HQ in Redmond, just north of Seattle, has experienced two consecutive days of protests since Tuesday as demonstrators called for Microsoft to cease its business ties with Israel immediately and demanded the company pay reparations to the Palestinian people.
Redmond police said officers were dispatched to a large gathering of protestors in the Microsoft courtyard, outside the HQ, on Wednesday at around 12:15 p.m.
“Officers initially attempted to trespass the protestors, but they resisted and became aggressive,” the Redmond Police Department said. Images posted online by the department showed the Microsoft sign drenched in red paint.
“Every day for the past 22 months, the Israeli military has used Microsoft technology to starve and bomb Palestinians in Gaza, while actively displacing Palestinians in an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing,” a statement posted by the organization No Azure for Apartheid wrote on X.
Last week, Microsoft said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
“Microsoft’s standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage,” the company said in a statement posted Friday, adding that the report raises “precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.” The tech giant said it would share the findings after law firm Covington & Burling completes its review.
A group of current and former Microsoft employees are believed to have organized the protest, The Verge reported Tuesday.
Around 50 people were said to be in attendance when the event began. The group cordoned off site areas, naming one the “Liberated Zone” encampment, while standing with a banner outside the East Campus Plaza that read “The Martyred Palestinian Children’s Plaza.”
A statement posted by the organization said the “peaceful” demonstration was interrupted by a “brutal mass arrest,” involving “physical violence.”
Videos posted on social media of the scene showed protesters being wrestled to the ground and dragged away from the courtyard.
“Get back or you’re gonna get sprayed,” a Redmond police officer is heard threatening in one clip.
One male protestor is heard saying, “Why the f*** did you shoot me, bro?, to a police officer.
“In response to this peaceful opposition to war crimes, Microsoft and Redmond Police retaliated against protestors with the brutal mass arrest of 18 protestors, chemical weapons, and physical violence,” No Azure for Apartheid wrote on X Thursday.
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