SEATTLE — The King County Prosecutor’s Office has charged 33 people with criminal trespass related to the occupation of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building at the University of Washington, but stopped short of accusing anyone of vandalism and the destruction inside.
The charges were filed on Tuesday, more than 300 days after the incident in May 2025.
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UW had accused the group that called itself “Super UW” of breaking into the IEB, spray-painting the inside, and damaging new equipment. The occupation lasted several hours before officers physically removed 33 people.
Charging documents say the following people were arrested in the building and face gross misdemeanor charges:
Tayler Hart; Max Rulff; Zachary Wallaced-Wells; Jade Wu; Jessica Schutz; Luisa Ortega Subdiaz; Ginger Newberry; Kimaya Mahajan; Gina Liu; Lea Keating; Akira Junyaprusert; Anna Hattle; Julia Fraczek; Cade Jackson; Jonas Piper; Ty Park; Lucy Zern; Tasbeet Iman; Ricardo Colon-Galvez; Roberta Collison; Ella Tunduwani; Zainab Chattha; Riley Centerwall; Catherine Brown; Brett Anton; Claire Berger; Yasmin Ahmed; Yafate Yared; Geneveve Konijisky; Finn Brown; Bailey Keen; Lucas Nichols-Mcauslan; Sam Sueoka
It was not immediately clear how many were or are active University of Washington students.
RELATED: UW confirms students suspended after IEB occupation and damage have been reinstated
In an interview with the case’s prosecutors, they explained the charging decision and how they declined to pursue felony charges.
“We believe we can prove that all these defendants either entered or knowingly remained in the building unlawfully,” said James Daniels, the Chief of the KCPAO’s District Court Unit. “We have body cam footage from a lot of the officers there. We have officers that observe these individuals in the building. They were given opportunities to leave the building and did not do so.”
When asked about the property damage, Susan Harrison, who chairs the KCPAO’s Economic Crimes Unit, said, “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.”
“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,” said Dan Clark, the Chief Deputy of the Criminal Division.
Prosecutors noted the lack of security cameras inside the IEB as a key issue.
In an email obtained by KOMO News through a public records request, Lt. Anthony Stewart of the UW Police Department wrote a prosecutor and UW officials about his theory:
“My working hypothesis is that two distinct groups were involved. The first group carried out the property destruction and subsequently exited the building. The second group — the occupiers — appeared to have been selected based on their affiliation with the school (i.e., students or staff).
I believe the overarching strategy was to have the second group occupy the building, leveraging their institutional ties to reduce the likelihood of an aggressive police response and to prompt prolonged negotiations with the administration.
No hammers, pry bars, or similar tools were recovered. However, I submitted a large rock for fingerprint analysis, which was discovered during a related vandalism investigation a few days after the IEB incident. Unfortunately, no latent prints were found. In fact, I recall that the occupiers I encountered were wearing gloves.
Only a small number of markers were found in the backpacks, and their colors did not match the graffiti observed on the walls and mural.”
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The prosecutors were asked if the events could be labeled as a hate crime, based on the idea that the incident involved pro-Palestinian protestors calling on UW to end ties with Boeing because of its association with Israel. Critics of the university have suggested the behavior was antisemitic.
“I understand that concern, I absolutely do, and we certainly don’t want to make any of our community members feel unsafe or hurt in that regard,” Clark said. “But no charges were submitted to us for hate crime, because I don’t think any exist.”
“There’s politically protected speech, and then there’s hate crime, and this did not cross over onto that line of hate crime,” he added.
Harrison was asked about a potential conspiracy charge, given the number of people who organized to enter the building that day.
“We must prove that agreement before the fact and that sort of acting in concert with one another to achieve that stated goal,” she said. “And unfortunately, it’s my understanding that we simply don’t have the evidence to establish that at this time.”
Clark also acknowledged that there could be frustration from Jewish groups about the lack of more serious felony charges.
UW has not yet responded to a request for comment on the status of the charged students. They were allowed back on campus earlier this year.
RELATED: UW ends suspensions from IEB takeover, vandalism but no charges filed
“I can’t say how these cases are going to resolve, but I can say that we have looked at all of the evidence that was presented to us, and we made the best filing decision that we had available based on the facts and the evidence in front of us. Ultimately, every person will have their own definition of what is justice,” Clark said. “But these are the charges that we can file.”
Harrison also said she believes there has been a misperception that the police and prosecutors weren’t actively investigating the case, given the length of time that has gone by.
“The large amount of evidence that we had to review that was submitted to us by the University of Washington Police Department, and that it matters to get it right,” she said.
“The felony charges were submitted in June, and then in January, UW, PD, submitted misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass in the first degree,” Daniels said. “Our team reviewed those charges and those referrals immediately, and we’re filing charges five or six weeks later, so we definitely try to get those charges filed as soon as possible.”
“I also believe that there’s a misperception out there that the speed in which we file charges suggests how important that case is to us, when in actuality, the case may be extremely complicated based on the amount of evidence submitted to us, the number of body cams we have to review, the other avenues to pursue, in terms of evidential gathering,” Clark said.
UW spokesperson Victor Balta says 23 students were charged by prosecutors and “The students have served three quarters of suspension as a result of their involvement in this incident. Misdemeanor proceedings stemming from it would not further impact their academic progress at the UW.”
We are pleased to see criminal charges filed with the court related to the occupation of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building. This is an important step in ensuring accountability for those who perpetrated this occupation, in addition to the suspensions that the students arrested in the building received through the student conduct process,” Balta also wrote. ” We value free speech and expression but also must continue to be a campus community where dangerous, unlawful actions are not tolerated.
We appreciate the hard work by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, UW Police and law enforcement partners who investigated a complex case involving a large number of individuals.
The UW Jewish Alumni posted a response to the charging decision on X, stating “Very disappointing that there are no charges and no requirement for restitution for a MILLION DOLLARS in vandalism to university property. But at least their names and faces are now known to any potential employers. Some accountability has finally arrived.”
