EXCLUSIVE: Seattle Apple workers close store early to protect pro-Hamas 'die-in' activists from arrest

An Apple store in Seattle closed early during Black Friday shopping after anti-Israel student activists occupied the location but employees refused to allow them to arrested after police arrive. Seattle police officers were dispatched to the Apple store in University Village at 11:49 am and arrived at 12:07 pm to find the activists holding a “die-in” in the middle of the store.

The college activists from Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return UW (SUPER UW) and the Falistinyat group claimed that the tech giant was “complicit” in “genocides” in Gaza and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The activists blocked the entrance of the store, laid down on the floor, covered themselves in “bloody” sheets and chanted “Free Palestine.” Some of the activists used PVC pipes in what is called the “sleeping dragon” position to secure themselves to store displays, which reques they be cut out of the pipes.

One of the activists who was pretending to be “dead” on the floor of the Apple store was mocked on social media for appearing to watch media on their cell phone during the protest.

Shoppers continued to browse and purchase during the action until the store was temporarily closed when police arrived. Some activists left but the ones in the “sleeping dragon remained.” Though the police far outnumbered the activists no arrests were made.

A spokesperson for the Seattle Police told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI that the “Owner of (the) business did not want to have the protesters trespassed,” adding that “The staff closed the store” for the remainder of the day. The employees also kicked out the media covering the activists and told bystanders to stop filming but allowed the antisemitic activists to remain in the store.

The activist groups listed in their demands for Apple to “End ban of Palestinian cultural clothing and items in the store,” leading some to speculate that the store employees might be sympathetic to the anti-Israel cause and some are likely students from UW.

The store is near the University of Washington (UW) which was plagued by rampant pro-Hamas rallies, vandalism, and even a Gaza encampment over the last year. Over the summer, SUPER UW was suspended as an official student group from the nearby University of Washington after failing to cooperate in the investigation of students who had vandalized the student union building on campus with anti-Israel graffiti causing over $50,000 in damage.  

Last year, pro-Hamas and Antifa activists stopped the downtown Seattle Christmas tree lighting in Westlake Center. Anti-Israel activists harassed shoppers on Black Friday across the US including occupying a shopping mall in Boston and blocking streets in New York City.

Apple was reached for comment.