Protests at Microsoft: Police arrest 18 at Redmond HQ over Microsoft's Israel contracts

Eighteen people were arrested on Wednesday during demonstrations at Microsoft’s Redmond campus, as worker-led protests against the company’s business ties with Israel entered a second day.

According to Redmond police, officers were dispatched around 12:15pm local time to break up a large gathering in the company’s courtyard. Authorities said protesters resisted when asked to disperse, and some engaged in vandalism, including splashing paint on a Microsoft sign and blocking a pedestrian bridge with tables and chairs taken from vendors at a nearby farmers’ market.

“Officers took 18 into custody for multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction. No injuries were reported,” the police said in a post on X, also sharing images of red paint smeared across a Microsoft logo.

The arrests followed a larger action on Tuesday, when about 50 current and former Microsoft employees, supported by community activists, occupied the East Campus Plaza. The demonstrators, part of the “No Azure for Apartheid” campaign, renamed the area “Martyred Palestinian Children’s Plaza,” erected tents and memorials, and called for executives to cut ties with the Israeli military.

The group argues that Microsoft’s technology is being used in Gaza for mass surveillance and military operations. Reports by The Guardian and +972 Magazine earlier this year alleged that Israel’s military intelligence stored millions of Palestinian phone calls on Azure servers, later used to inform bombing targets. The Associated Press also reported in February that Israel’s use of Microsoft’s commercial AI products rose nearly 200-fold after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Microsoft has said it hired the law firm Covington & Burling to independently review these allegations, but maintains it has “found no evidence” that its technologies were used to target civilians.

“Today, the group returned and engaged in vandalism and property damage. They also disrupted, harassed, and took tables and tents from local small businesses at a lunchtime farmer’s market for employees,” Microsoft said in a statement reported by Bloomberg.

The company added that it will continue 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.”