Protesters Face Off at UW Palestine Encampment After Charlie Kirk Speaking Event Brings Hundreds to Campus

by Julia Park

A few hundred protesters blocked entrances to the Quad at the University of Washington on Tuesday evening, May 7, shouting chants in front of a raucous crowd of vocal counter-protesters and bystanders that included students, visitors who had come to see conservative speaker Charlie Kirk deliver a talk on campus, street preachers, and community members.

Over the past nine days, the encampment known as the Popular University for Gaza Liberated Zone and set up by UW student organizations, including the UW Progressive Student Union and joined by the UW United Front for Palestinian Liberation, has grown to over 150 tents.

Mia, a UW student who asked that her last name not be disclosed for fear of facing backlash for her opinions, came to watch the protest from a short distance away.

"I think it's good, but I'm scared of what will happen if things don't get solved, like what are their next moves, I guess," Mia said.

"It's kind of hard, because I know UW is known for its liberalistic views and being a safe place, so I think it's good that they have a safe place where they can express this, but I think it's kind of important for them to know when they are impeding on actual students living," she continued.

She said she has a class in one of the buildings near the Quad and that her instructor had to pause class for a time earlier that day because it was too loud outside.

A large group of protesters, many of whom wore masks, keffiyehs, and sunglasses, gathered around 4 p.m. in the UW Quad in the middle of the encampment for a "de-escalation training," making plans to block the entrances to the encampment and train participants in how to confront possible agitators. UW trucks were seen bringing in metal barriers near the Quad's entrances earlier that day, according to a post on X by Sofia Schwarzwalder, news editor at The Daily of the University of Washington.

The day before, the UW Muslim Student Association had put out a call on its Instagram for community members in the Seattle area to come out and support the encampment, anticipating high numbers of right-wing agitators coming to campus for Charlie Kirk's national "Live Free Tour."

Charlie Kirk is a far-right activist and founder of the organization Turning Point USA, a nonprofit conservative advocacy group and grassroots campaign that seeks to promote conservative politics on college campuses across the country. Kirk's event was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Husky Union Building (HUB) Tuesday, and drew a crowd of hundreds who lined up outside the building's north entrance.

Susana Asberry was in line to see Kirk and said she admires him because he has no fear, even if she doesn't necessarily agree with everything he says. A former instructor at the UW, Asberry left because of pressure from the university due to her conservative views, she said.

Asberry said students should be taught to critically analyze, synthesize, and make decisions for themselves on what to believe.

"That's the key to freedom, right," she said. "Freedom of thinking, freedom of expression. And many students who are conservative are afraid to speak up. Imagine if you speak up in a classroom where you have this liberal environment, right? It's the fear that keeps you quiet."

Asberry said she grew up in the former Czechoslovakia under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and she drew parallels to the fear-based control the USSR used in her home country.

Around 6:40 p.m., Kirk appeared at the building's entrance to tell people in line that the event was full. He thanked them for coming and cracked a few jokes before going back inside. Remaining attendees hopeful of being allowed in lingered outside the entrance as the line gradually dispersed.

A crowd began gathering at the east entrance to the Quad as people turned away from the Kirk event began to migrate over toward the Liberated Zone to watch protesters chant slogans in support of Palestine from behind the metal barriers.

Each entrance to the Quad was blocked by a row or rows of protesters, many of whom held unfurled umbrellas obscuring their faces. Led by a person on a megaphone, protesters at the east barrier shouted chants, including "Free Palestine," "Hey, ho, the occupation has got to go," and "1, 2, 3, 4, occupation no more" continually until around 10 p.m. Near the front, a row of protesters held shields constructed from plastic garbage cans in front of them. Behind them, some waved flags in Palestinian flag colors. Many wore riot gear and were dressed in all black.

An anonymous community member who came to watch the protest and was not comfortable sharing his name said the scene of chaos and confusion broke his heart.

"I just see a lot of people that don't understand each other," he said. "And it's just really sad. All these people just are so wound up in their own side, they just don't have any room for anything from the other side."

According to The Daily, Kirk told attendees not to engage with any "antifa" demonstrators on their way out of the event as he neared the end of his talk at 8:30 p.m.

However, the crowd began to grow as people who appeared to be coming from the Charlie Kirk event less than half a mile away joined the people watching the protesters from across the east barrier. Some wore red baseball caps saying "Make America Great Again" or wore clothes printed with the American flag. Several began chanting "USA, USA, USA" and unfurled a blue Trump campaign flag. At one point, protesters from the encampment began approaching the crowd of counter-protesters, hitting empty water jugs. Individuals on both sides were seen exchanging verbal threats.

At least one altercation occurred during the demonstration that involved people throwing punches and someone being pushed backward into the bushes near the east barrier.

Police officers patrolled the area around the Quad but appeared to be monitoring the situation and not engaging protesters directly.

UW spokesperson Victor Balta provided the following statement on the protests:

"Our priority was to ensure the safety of all students, faculty, staff, and visitors to our campus during what we anticipated could be a tense evening. We took proactive steps to maintain distance between opposing groups. Unfortunately, a relatively small number of individuals and groups who went looking for confrontations found them, and we have received some reports of altercations.

"Given the circumstances, through good planning and the fact that the vast majority of people participating in various activities sought to exercise their free speech rights without violence or aggression, we reached a largely peaceful conclusion to the night."

The crowds gradually dispersed starting around 10 p.m.

Featured Image: Pro-Palestenian protesters and counter-protesters, some who had attended conservative speaker Charlie Kirk's event, engaged in opposing chants and conversations on the University of Washington campus, where an encampment protesting the Israel—Hamas war was established. (Photo: Susan Fried)