On Monday night, several people briefly seized the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, creating a hazardous situation in and surrounding the facility. As authorities from multiple organizations gathered to address the issue, individuals, primarily with their faces concealed, obstructed access to two roads outside the building, restricted entrances and exits, and set fire to two dumpsters on an adjacent street. The UW Police collaborated with law enforcement officials to manage the scenario and started clearing the vicinity outside the building at approximately 10:30 p.m. before proceeding inside to evacuate it by 11 p.m. Around 30 individuals who had taken over the building were apprehended, and charges of trespassing, vandalism, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy to commit all three will be submitted to the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Any students identified as participants will also face referral to the Student Conduct Office.

The University of Washington is dedicated to preserving a safe educational and research atmosphere and strongly denounces this unlawful occupation of the building, along with the antisemitic remarks made by a suspended student organization on Monday. The University will not succumb to such offensive and destructive conduct and will persist in opposing antisemitism in every form.