Microsoft fires two employee protesters who occupied its president’s office

Microsoft dismissed two employees involved in a sit-in event in the vice-president and office of President Brad Smith. Riki Fameli and Anna Hattle software engineers were both dismissed today, after being part of a group of seven demonstrators who managed to enter Smith’s office in building 34 yesterday.

Microsoft was forced to temporarily lock his executive building. The demonstrators broadcast themselves live on Twitch entering the Smith office and demanded that the company break links with the Israeli government. Microsoft Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli employees were both arrested during the incident, alongside former employees of Microsoft Vaniya Agrawal, Hossam Nasr and Joe Lopez. A former Google employee and another technology worker were also arrested.

Microsoft’s nameless spokesperson said Geekwire that the two employees were dismissed “following serious violations of the company’s policies and our code of conduct”. Microsoft refused to provide a declaration attributable to The penis.

A few hours after the demonstrators’ arrest, Brad Smith then organized an emergency press conference in his office. Sitting on the edge of his office, Smith addressed a group of journalists and viewers on a live Youtube flow. Smith said Microsoft is “determined to guarantee that his human rights principles and contractual service conditions are confirmed in the Middle East”. He said the company launched an investigation earlier this month after The guardian reported that Microsoft’s Cloud Azure platform was used for monitoring Palestinians.

Hattle was already arrested during the demonstrations at the headquarters of Microsoft last week, where the Redmond police arrested 20 people after a group resumed a place at the headquarters of Microsoft to protest against the company’s contracts with Israel. The demonstrators of the Microsoft campus have set up a “released area” camp and poured red paint on a Microsoft panel on the campus.

The latest demonstrations were organized by Nozure for apartheid, a group of current and former Microsoft workers who demand that the company have broken its ties with the Israeli government. The group has carried out a variety of events in recent months, the last interruptions spanning the houses and offices of Microsoft managers.