On Monday, a group calling themselves “No Azure for Apartheid” stormed Microsoft’s Redmond HQ, live-streaming the entire sit-in on Twitch. Their destination? None other than Brad Smith’s office—yes, Microsoft’s president himself. Armed with banners, chants like “Brad Smith, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!”, and even a mock legal summons accusing Smith of “crimes against humanity,” the group turned Building 34 into a flashpoint.
Microsoft kept quiet at first, but a few hours later Smith held a press conference right at his desk—talk about damage control mode. He confirmed that of the seven protesters, two were current employees and one was a former Googler. When they refused to leave, Redmond police stepped in, dragging them out and arresting all seven on trespassing and obstruction charges.
Smith tried to downplay the chaos, calling the protest “not necessary” and saying it only “distracts from real dialogue” Microsoft claims it’s already having with its employees across backgrounds and faiths. But here’s the bigger picture: this wasn’t a random stunt. It’s the latest in months of growing pushback over Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel. A Guardian report recently revealed that Israel uses Microsoft services to store millions of Palestinian call records from Gaza and the West Bank—a detail that’s fueling even more outrage inside and outside the company.
And if this feels familiar, it should. Google employees pulled almost the exact same move last year, staging office takeovers to protest Project Nimbus—a $1.2B cloud deal with Israel. That ended with mass arrests and, eventually, firings.
The pattern is clear: workers inside Big Tech are no longer content just sending petitions or Slack messages. They’re walking straight into executive offices, livestreaming it, and daring the world to watch.
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