The Trump administration launched an antisemitism review into the University of Washington, swooping in a day after anti-Israel activists occupied and vandalized a campus building in a fiery protest that caused more than $1 million in damage.
The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism condemned Tuesday the “eruption of anti-Semitic harassment and violence that occurred Monday, May 5, at UW’s campus in Seattle,” which saw about 75 protesters take over the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building.
The protest organized by Students United for Palestinian Equity and Return, which was suspended by the university last year, called for the university to divest from Boeing over its defense contracts with the Israeli Defense Forces.
“Pro-terror protestors demanded that the university divest from Boeing due to the company’s military contracts linked to the Gaza conflict,” said the task force. “The ‘protestors’ actions included barricading and occupying an engineering building on campus for hours, setting property on fire, and shouting death threats to law enforcement.”
Police arrested 32 black-clad protesters, not all of whom were students. The activists also smashed windows, barricaded entrances with furniture, and damaged valuable manufacturing equipment at the new building, according to KOMO-TV in Seattle.
NEW: University of Washington says there was more than $1 million worth of damage done to Interdisciplinary Engineering Building by violent protesters.
32 Arrests.
More on @komonews pic.twitter.com/C9QboEuelt
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels_TV) May 6, 2025
UW President Ana Mari Cauce strongly condemned the “horrific and destructive behavior” in a community email, but the administration said that more needs to be done.
“The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism appreciates the university’s strong statement condemning last night’s violence and applauds the quick action by law enforcement officers to remove violent criminals from the university campus,” said the administration statement.
‘While these are good first steps, the university must do more to deter future violence and guarantee that Jewish students have a safe and productive learning environment,” said the statement. “The Task Force expects the institution to follow up with enforcement actions and policy changes that are clearly necessary to prevent these uprisings moving forward.”
Also issuing statements were Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum.
“The Task Force will not allow these so-called ‘protesters’ to disrupt campus life and deprive students, especially Jewish students who live in fear on campus, of their equal opportunity protections and civil rights,” said Ms. McMahon.
Ms. Cauce was emphatic in her denunciation of the destructive protest. The building targeted by activists was built with a $10 million donation from Boeing.
“This was no peaceful protest in support of Palestinian rights or against the war in Gaza,” Ms. Cauce said in her email. “I condemn this dangerous, violent and illegal building occupation and related vandalism.”
In addition, “I also condemn in the strongest terms the group’s statement celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians,” she said. “The University will not be intimidated by this sort of horrific and destructive behavior and will not engage in dialogue with any group using or condoning such destructive tactics.”
The pro-Palestinian student group denounced Ms. Cauce’s “legacy of denying genocide and repression of pro-Palestinian activism” in an April 24 post on Instagram.
The Trump administration has also undertaken investigations into allegations of antisemitism at Columbia, Harvard, and the Harvard Law Review.
