A Microsoft employee has been arrested as part of protests at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington this week. On Tuesday, a group of current and former Microsoft employees, as well as community members, took over a plaza at Microsoft’s headquarters to protest against the company’s contracts with Israel. The No Azure for Apartheid protest group says at least one Microsoft employee has now been arrested as part of 18 arrests in a second day of protests.
Protestors at Microsoft’s headquarters set up a “Liberated Zone” encampment for a second day on Wednesday, and poured red paint over a Microsoft sign on campus. Komo News reports that Redmond Police allege that some protesters also “blocked a pedestrian bridge, and tried to create a barrier using stolen tables and chairs.” While the group of protesters were moved on peacefully on the first day of protests on Tuesday, Redmond Police arrested 18 people at Wednesday’s protests and claim some protestors “became aggressive.”
At least one of the 18 arrested is Anna Hattle, a software engineer in Microsoft’s cloud and AI team. Abdo Mohamed, a No Azure for Apartheid organizer and former tech worker fired by Microsoft, confirmed to The Verge that Hattle and former Microsoft employees Hossam Nasr and Vaniya Agrawal were arrested on Wednesday. “Those arrested include current and former Microsoft workers as well as Seattle community members,” says the No Azure for Apartheid group in a press release.
The group has been organizing a series of protests against Microsoft’s cloud contracts with the Israeli government in recent months. A former Microsoft employee disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary event and called Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman a “war profiteer.” Microsoft’s three CEOs were also interrupted by another former Microsoft employee during the same event. The group also disrupted Microsoft’s Build conference earlier this year multiple times, and Microsoft even blocked emails that contain “Palestine” after these employee protests.
The latest protests come just days after The Guardian, in partnership with +972 Magazine and Local Call, published an investigation which revealed that the Israeli government is relying on Microsoft’s cloud services to store recordings and data of up to “a million calls an hour” made by Palestinians.
“The company announced last week that it is pursuing a thorough and independent review of new allegations first reported earlier this month about the purported use of its Azure platform in Israel,” says an unnamed Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to Komo News. “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.”
Update, August 21st: Article updated with additional details on the arrests.
