Google employees were arrested after staging an over eight-hour sit-in at the office of Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud in California, in protest of the company's ties with Israel. Arrests also occurred following a demonstration at the division's offices in New York.
The employees broadcast their protest live on Twitch, and from footage of the incident it was apparent that they were allowed to leave voluntarily, but when they refused they were arrested by police.
The employees demanded that Google cease all "business with the apartheid government and Israeli military," address the "harassment, fear-mongering, discrimination and silencing" of Palestinian and Muslim employees, and address the "health crisis in Gaza."
According to a spokesperson for the protesters, nine employees were arrested at both Google Cloud offices in New York and California. According to The Washington Post, New York police officers entered Google's office and warned protesters that they would be arrested if they didn't leave, ultimately following through on their threat.
About three years ago, around 90 Google employees and approximately 300 Amazon employees issued a call for tech giants to withdraw their bids for Project Nimbus in Israel. As part of the project, Google and Amazon committed to establishing significant cloud computing centers in the country within two years. These employees wrote that "the technology our companies agreed to build will make the systemic discrimination and displacement carried out by the IDF and the Israeli government against Palestinians more ruthless and deadly."
A Google spokesperson responded to the occupation of the offices, stating that "preventing access to our facilities is a clear violation of our policy, and we will investigate and take action. These employees were placed on compulsory leave, and their access to our systems was blocked. After refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was called in to remove them to ensure office safety."