A Microsoft employee has been arrested at the company’s Redmond headquarters during protests against its cloud contracts with Israel. The demonstrations, led by the No Azure for Apartheid collective, escalated on Wednesday when protestors set up a “Liberated Zone” encampment and poured red paint over a Microsoft sign. Redmond Police said 18 people were arrested after some allegedly blocked a pedestrian bridge and attempted to build barriers using stolen furniture.
Among those detained was Anna Hattle, a software engineer with Microsoft’s cloud and AI division. Former Microsoft employees Hossam Nasr and Vaniya Agrawal were also arrested, according to organisers. “Those arrested include current and former Microsoft workers as well as Seattle community members,” the group said in a statement.
The protest movement has been gaining momentum in recent months. Demonstrators previously disrupted Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebrations, where a former employee publicly called AI chief Mustafa Suleyman a “war profiteer.” The group has also interrupted Microsoft’s Build conference multiple times, leading to reports that Microsoft blocked internal emails containing the word “Palestine.”
The latest protest follows an investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call, which revealed that the Israeli government is using Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure to store surveillance data from up to a million calls per hour made by Palestinians.
Microsoft said it is conducting an independent review of the allegations. “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,” a company spokesperson told Komo News.