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County prosecutors in Washington state cut deal with anti-Israel ‘UW33,’ accused of causing $1 million in damage at University of Washington

If the defendants fulfill the terms of the agreements with the prosecutors, they will not serve jail time, stand trial or pay fines.

University of Washington
The entrance to the University of Washington in Seattle, Aug. 10, 2012. Credit: Meganp via Wikimedia Commons.

Prosecutors dismissed charges against 33 people, including students, who were accused of occupying and causing $1 million in damage to an engineering building at the University of Washington during an anti-Israel protest in May 2025.

Under stipulated orders of continuance reached with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the first-degree criminal trespass charges will be dismissed after 12 months if the defendants complete community service and do not commit new legal violations.

The agreements do not constitute guilty pleas, but the defendants must stipulate to the accuracy of the police reports, according to a spokesman for the county prosecutor. If a court determines that a defendant violated the terms, it could revoke the agreement following a hearing and conduct a stipulated bench trial.

The “UW33" were members of the anti-Israel activist group SUPER-UW, which permanently lost its status as a recognized student group.

They were arrested on May 5, 2025, after occupying the university’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, allegedly causing $1 million in damage and demanding that the school sever ties with Boeing, which had contributed $10 million toward the building’s construction. The university imposed emergency suspensions on 23 students who participated in the protest, but it later reinstated all of them after disciplinary proceedings.

If the defendants fulfill the terms of their agreements with the prosecutors, they will not serve jail time, stand trial or pay fines.

Jessica Russak-Hoffman is a reporter for JNS in Seattle.
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