Protest at Microsoft campus leads to 18 arrests
18 arrested after protest at Microsoft protest
Police arrested 18 people at Microsoft headquarters during a protest after demonstrators allegedly vandalized property, resisted arrest, and obstructed officers.
REDMOND, Wash. - Police arrested 18 people Wednesday afternoon during a protest at the Microsoft campus in Redmond after demonstrators reportedly vandalized company property, blocked a pedestrian bridge, and resisted officers' attempts to remove them.
Protesters held Palestinian flags and chanted "free Palestine."
A protest at Microsoft's Redmond campus resulted in 18 arrests for charges including trespassing and malicious mischief. (Redmond, WA Police Department)
What we know:
The Redmond Police Department was dispatched to the Microsoft courtyard at approximately 12:15 p.m. in response to a large gathering of protesters. According to the police, officers first attempted to issue trespass orders to the protesters, but they became "aggressive" and resisted.
Protesters reportedly poured paint on the Microsoft sign and on the ground. Other demonstrators blocked a pedestrian bridge, creating a barrier with stolen tables and chairs from vendors. No injuries were reported.
Red paint was splattered on the Microsoft sign in Redmond, WA on Aug. 20, 2025. (Redmond, WA Police Department)
Those arrested face multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction. The police department's investigation is ongoing. The Washington State Patrol, Bellevue Police, and Kirkland Police assisted Redmond officers during the incident.
Dig deeper:
The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations at the Microsoft campus organized by the employee-led group No Azure for Apartheid. The group has been protesting for months, demanding the company cut its business ties with the Israeli military.
A protest at Microsoft's Redmond campus resulted in 18 arrests for charges including trespassing and malicious mischief. (Redmond, WA Police Department)
The recent protests follow allegations reported by the British newspaper The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians.
Microsoft announced on Aug. 15 that it is undertaking a formal review of the allegations. The company stated that its standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage.
"The Guardian’s recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review," the company said.
Microsoft has hired the law firm Covington & Burling LLP and an independent consulting firm to conduct the review. The company said it will share the findings with the public after the review is complete.
The backstory:
In February, an investigation by The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the American tech giant’s partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with military use of its commercial AI products skyrocketing after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Microsoft acknowledged the military applications but said a previous review found no evidence that its Azure platform and AI technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. The company did not share a copy of that review or say who conducted it.
This is not the first time Microsoft employees have been disciplined for protesting the company's military contracts with Israel. In May, an employee was fired after interrupting a speech by CEO Satya Nadella. In April, two others were fired for interrupting the company's 50th-anniversary celebration.
What they're saying:
A Microsoft spokesperson provided the following statement regarding Wednesday's protest:
"Yesterday, approximately 35 protesters gathered and protested on the Microsoft campus. When local police officers informed them that this was not permitted on private property, they left.
"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. Local police officers made multiple arrests.
"Microsoft deeply appreciates and supports the actions of local law enforcement officers and the Redmond Police Department.
"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 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.
"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."
No Azure For Apartheid also issued the following statement in response to the protest arrests:
"In establishing the Liberated Zone for the second day in a row, community members and current and former Microsoft workers are answering Gaza's call to escalate and force an end to the genocide
powered by Microsoft technology. However, instead of listening to the demands of the Liberated Zone and ending its role in the daily massacre of Palestinians, Microsoft chose to militarize its campus to harass, attack and
violently arrest 18 people who refused to be cogs in the Israeli genocidal machine.
"As we recognize the sacrifice made by those arrested today, we also recognize that the militarism, physical violence and detentions perpetrated by the Redmond Police Department pale in comparison to the experiences Palestinians are forced to endure on a daily basis. Every day for the past 22 months, the Israeli military has used Microsoft technology to starve and bomb Palestinians in Gaza, while actively displacing Palestinians in the West Bank in an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
"Microsoft is no idle participant in the genocide -- rather Microsoft profits from the genocide via a multi-million dollar partnership with the Israeli military, which enables the company to collect and store a million Palestinian phone calls an hour on behalf of Unit 8200, Israel's military intelligence unit.
"The Liberated Zone is part of the worker uprising to take agency in our work and demand Microsoft stop exploiting our labor to build technology that murders Palestinians. Microsoft executives should take note of the growing worker movement and immediately cut off all ties with the Israeli military and government. And each day they delay, they continue to expose themselves and the company to criminal liability for their violation of fundamental Palestinian human rights and should expect worker and public outrage to intensify.
"In the call for a worker Intifada, the authors wrote, 'Today, we put our employment, our immigration status, our livelihoods, and our bodies on the line because it is precisely the urgency that is needed to stop the waterfall
of Palestinian blood.' This call to action was embodied today and we hope it serves as a revolutionary spark for all workers of conscience to rise up to meet the moment -- a moment which requires a critical mass of action to stop the genocidal machine in its tracks. We cannot afford a second longer of silence as our labor powers the world's most well-documented and first AI-assisted genocide.
"Our message to Satya Nadella and other executives who are shamelessly shaking hands with Israeli war criminals to sign deals for genocidal technology is this: our movement will not stop, we will not rest, and we will continue to apply pressure. We will show up to confront, disrupt, and take action in every place, at every moment, both announced and unannounced. Escalations will continue as long as Microsoft is invested in the economy of occupation and genocide."
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Redmond Police Department and Microsoft.