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18 employees arrested at Microsoft campus, charged with trespassing, malicious mischief after red paint incident
According to the police, during the protest, some employees stole tables and chairs from vendors and used them as barricades to block a pedestrian bridge.
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Police arrested 18 people at the Microsoft Campus on various charges. The Redmond Police Department, in an X post, wrote that the incident occurred on August 20.
“18 arrested for various charges during a protest at Microsoft Campus. Redmond police are at the scene of a demonstration at the Microsoft campus. On Aug 20, around 12:15 p.m., Redmond officers were dispatched to a large gathering of protestors in the Microsoft courtyard,” the department wrote.
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The police tweeted that when officers initially attempted to trespass the protestors, they resisted and became aggressive. “A few protesters had poured paint over the Microsoft sign and on the ground.”
Amid the chaos, some protesters blocked a pedestrian bridge using stolen tables and chairs from vendors, as per the police. They used the furniture as barricades.
“Officers took 18 into custody for multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction. No injuries were reported,” the department added.
Redmond Police Department shared three pictures, one showing red paint scattered across a Microsoft sign.
“Today, the group returned and engaged in vandalism and property damage,” Microsoft said in a statement, reported Bloomberg. “They also disrupted, harassed, and took tables and tents from local small businesses at a lunchtime farmer’s market for employees.”
“Microsoft deeply appreciates and supports the actions of local law enforcement officers and the Redmond Police Department,” the company said in its statement.
Why did the employees protest?
As per Bloomberg, the employees were protesting about the software company’s business ties with Israel. The outlet reported that the group behind the protest, No Azure for Apartheid, wants the company to stop selling their products to Israel, claiming that the technology is contributing to deaths in Gaza.
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In a May blog post, Microsoft stated that it had “found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.”
“As we have made clear, Microsoft is committed to its human rights standards and contractual terms of service, including in the Middle East,” the company said in a recent statement.
