UPDATE: Google Employees Arrested and Fired After Staging Protests Over Company's Project Nimbus Deal With Israel

By Madz Dizon

Apr 17 2024, 23:58 PM EDT

UPDATE: Google Employees Arrested and Fired After Staging Protests Over Company's Project Nimbus Deal With Israel — A google signs is seen as members of the Alphabet Workers Union (CWA) hold a rally outside the Google office in response to recent layoffs, in New York on February 2, 2023. - Google's parent company Alphabet announced in January it will cut about 12,000 jobs globally, citing a changing economic reality. ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images

According to sources, Google has terminated the employment of 28 individuals who took part in a 10-hour sit-in at the company's offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California.

The protest was organized to express their concerns about Google's relationship with the Israeli government.

Google Employees Arrested After Anti-Israel Protest

According to a companywide memo from Google's vice president of global security, Chris Rackow, the individuals who occupied the office of a top executive in California and wore traditional Arab headscarves have been terminated after an internal investigation.

Protesters in New York took over the 10th floor of Google's offices in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.

The protest also spread to the company's offices in Seattle, as part of what they referred to as the "No Tech for Genocide Day of Action."

Nine protestors were arrested at both locations on Tuesday. During the protest on the Sunnyvale campus, a fellow employee unexpectedly entered the livestream after approximately eight hours.

As the workers declined to leave, a group of police officers entered the scene and directed them to place their hands behind their backs.

A large crowd of individuals observed the incident unfold via the internet as the workers were arrested. Video shared on social media captures law enforcement escorting them out of the premises while restrained.

According to VCPost's previous report, protesters stormed into the offices in New York and California on Tuesday afternoon, declaring their intention to stay put until Google terminated its $1.2 billion contract with Israel.

In the 2021 agreement, Google and Amazon have collaborated to offer AI and cloud computing services to various branches of the Israeli government.

Google Accuses Protesters of Trespassing

Despite initial opposition from shareholders, protests have escalated due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, resulting in a significant loss of Palestinian civilian lives.

In December, a group of individuals gathered outside one of Google's offices in San Francisco, causing a disruption to traffic as they expressed their grievances through chanting and waving flags at a busy intersection.

Last month, an engineer was fired by the tech giant for protesting during a keynote speech given by the managing director of Google's Israel business.

The employees' protest was coordinated by the activist group No Tech for Apartheid. Yet another protest took place outside Google's Seattle office, as per The Washington Examiner.

The company alleged that the workers and demonstrators had engaged in trespassing and disrupting work. According to a spokesperson from Google, the protests were mainly attended by individuals who do not work at Google.