Thirty-three protesters who took over a University of Washington engineering building in May 2025, causing roughly $1 million in damage, are finally facing trespassing charges.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday charged them with misdemeanor criminal trespass, “but stopped short of accusing anyone of vandalism and the destruction inside,” KOMO News reported, adding 23 of them are UW students who also served suspensions for their actions.

During the May protest, masked individuals had obstructed two streets near the building, blocked its entrances and exits, and set fires in two dumpsters, according to a university official at the time. They also chanted “death to the police,” video showed.

Pro-Palestinian activists had seized the building to demand the school cut ties with Boeing, which does business with Israel.

“UW officials estimated more than $1 million in damages to a single room downstairs that houses brand-new machinery,” the Daily student newspaper reported.

“According to probable cause documents, which are similar for each person charged, a group of protesters wearing [black] entered the building around 5 p.m. May 5, 2025, then barricaded the doors with furniture. University police, Seattle police and state troopers responded and tried to negotiate with the protesters but were turned down,” the Spokesman-Review reported.

“After a final dispersal order around 11 p.m., officers wearing riot gear went into the building and placed protesters in hand restraints. They were arrested for investigation of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, as well as conspiracy to commit all three crimes, and taken to King County Jail,” it reported.

Asked why the suspects do not face felony charges, officials said there was not enough evidence.

“We simply did not have the evidence to prove as to each individual defendant that they either entered or remained unlawfully with that intent to commit a crime against a person or property therein, or that they caused the physical damage themselves,” Susan Harrison, who chairs the Economic Crimes Unit, told KOMO News this week.

Dan Clark, the chief deputy of the criminal division, told the news station: “I think that that’s frustrating for the entire community to have something damaged like that, have a significant dollar amount and not be able to file charges and hold somebody accountable for that. If we had the evidence to establish that, we absolutely would have filed it. But at the end of the day, if you don’t have the evidence, you can’t make that filing decision.”

UW President Ana Mari Cauce had condemned the protest in a statement at the time.

“I condemn this dangerous, violent and illegal building occupation and related vandalism. I also condemn in the strongest terms the group’s statement celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians,” she said in a statement to the campus community.

“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. We will continue our actions to oppose antisemitism, racism and all forms of biases so that ALL our students, faculty, staff and visitors can feel safe and welcome on our campuses.”

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