UW and police protect college's encampment from pro-Israel march

SEATTLE, Wash. — Tensions were high at the University of Washington on Sunday as a pro-Israel and pro-America rally took place close to the anti-Israel encampment near Red Square, which has been a source of friction for some time.

Pastor Russell Johnson, who helped organized the rally, explained the reasoning for the gathering despite concerns that there could be violence.

"Our primary goal is to send an opposite message to both local and national media, letting them know that there are still common-sense people in the Pacific Northwest who are willing to stand up for the rights of Jewish people to exist without fear of violence or retribution," Johnson told me prior to the rally.

Johnson said his group was not looking to be violent.

"I don't think it will be. We are rallying to pray, to stand together, to sing the national anthem, to wave flags, and to let the Seattle market know that there are still people left here who stand in support and in defense of Israel and the Jewish people. We don't tolerate any sort of violence or instigation on our side. I hope there is equal restraint" on the other side, he explained.

Johnson added that it was the group's desire to walk through the occupied quad peacefully because it is public space funded by taxpayers. But it was not to be.

Before the start of the rally, far-left groups put out a call on social media for people to come and "defend" the encampment from the Christian and Jewish crowd. Barricades provided by UW were commandeered by the anti-Israel occupiers. Campus police and Washington State troopers guarded the entrance to the camp that was closest to Red Square.

'The University ... allowed Antifa to set up this quasi, secondary police force to guard all the entrances ...'

At the other entrances, occupiers, which included Antifa, manned the barricades to prevent anyone else deemed not on their side from entering. The occupiers were ready for a fight as they carried poles and improvised shields made from plastic garbage cans, while wearing gloves with hard knuckles and helmets.

Julio Rosas/Blaze Media

When Johnson's rally was finished, the crowd did march to the main entrance to the camp but were unable to enter because of the police preventing them from walking inside. The occupiers pushed past the first set of barricades to get closer to the march, but they did not go past the second set of barricades. After shouting and standing outside the encampment, the pro-Israel march walked to Johnson's off-campus church.

There were no major acts of violence from either side, but the school's action makes it clear the encampment is not going away any time soon. Finals week at UW is not until early June.

Johnson said the encampment brings back memories from the disastrous "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone."

"The University ... allowed Antifa to set up this quasi, secondary police force to guard all the entrances. It's the same mistakes that they made during the CHAZ/CHOP encampment that apparently they have not learned from. ... The UW president has basically been silent outside a weak-kneed press release," he said.