King County prosecutors have finally filed charges against the Antifa and anti-Israel activists who occupied and vandalized the University of Washington’s brand-new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building last May, an incident that caused more than $1 million in damage. But the charge is not burglary. Not malicious mischief. Not a felony of any kind.
It’s criminal trespass in the first degree. A gross misdemeanor.
"The UW police department is who you call if somebody's passed out drunk in the quad or if someone stole a bicycle, not who you call when you have a terrorist occupation of a building."
Antifa & anti-Israel radicals who caused over $1 million in damage to @UW won't be charged… pic.twitter.com/CIBMeHHtVA
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) March 4, 2026
And if you’re wondering how the alleged occupiers of a campus building end up facing the legal equivalent of a sternly worded warning, the answer seems painfully simple: the University of Washington, and particularly its police department, botched the case.
On Tuesday, the King County prosecuting attorney’s office filed 33 cases of criminal trespass in the first degree for the defendants involved in the May 2025 occupation at the University of Washington Interdisciplinary Engineering Building.
These weren’t minor campus rule-breakers. According to police records, demonstrators entered the building after hours through a propped-open door while vehicles arrived offloading plywood, barriers, and supplies. Inside, they piled furniture to barricade exits and glued at least one door shut—trapping a university employee in the building until protesters ultimately escorted him out. Officers later encountered demonstrators wearing Black Bloc—the traditional uniform associated with Antifa protests consisting of all-black clothing, face coverings, helmets, and gas masks—and carrying makeshift shields.
What prosecutors received after months of delay, however, wasn’t a felony-ready case. The explanation the prosecutor’s office provided is damning: “After further investigation, University of Washington police investigators determined there was insufficient evidence to file felony charges…” Why? “There is no eyewitness or surveillance video capturing the incident, and a forensic search of the recovered electronic devices… yielded no evidence to support charging the suspects with either offense.”
That outcome was baked in the moment UW chose to treat a coordinated building takeover like routine campus disorder.
“The UW police department is who you call if somebody’s passed out drunk in the quad. The UW police is who you call if somebody stole a bicycle. The UW police is not who you call when you have a terrorist occupation of a building.”
The timeline only makes it worse. The occupation happened on May 5, 2025. Prosecutors say the “comprehensive review of admissible evidence” did not occur until October 15, 2025—seven months later. And the cases weren’t properly uploaded for misdemeanor review until late January 2026—roughly nine months after the building was occupied and trashed.
Hang on a second. Now you’re talking nine months, nine months until this stuff was uploaded. Are you kidding me?”
Prosecutors argue they couldn’t file trespass earlier without jeopardizing the felony investigation. What investigation? Ther ewere obvious leads that were not pursued, like the license plate of the vehicle used to haul in the equipment for the occupiers being caught on video, but that still didn’t translate into meaningful accountability.
Meanwhile, the university’s own discipline has already come and gone. UW previously allowed 23 students connected to the incident to return to campus after serving three quarters of suspension. SUPER UW, the suspended group that claimed responsibility for the takeover, celebrated their return and has since reappeared in public campus spaces, including distributing pro-Hamas materials. At the same time, UW remains under federal Title VI scrutiny over antisemitic harassment concerns, raising uncomfortable questions about whether the university can—or will—draw lines when activism turns destructive.
This case sets a precedent. If activists can barricade doors, trap people inside, ignite fires outside, and walk away facing only misdemeanors because investigators can’t—or won’t—build felony cases, it invites a repeat performance.
So tonight, when you see all these headlines that say ‘Look at all the people who got charged,’ just know this is an absolute miscarriage of justice.
Here’s the real test: if these defendants are convicted of criminal trespass, will UW impose any additional discipline at all? Or will the university shrug, point to the misdemeanor label, and let them carry on—safe in the knowledge that, at UW, occupying a building is treated less like a crime and more like a campus tradition.
