Hundreds arrested after Microsoft data center protest turns violent — Stop Dirty Data Centers coalition demands halt to AI data center expansion; Dutch police seize break-in tools, suspected stolen items from construction site

Hundreds arrested after Microsoft data center protest turns violent — Stop Dirty Data Centers coalition demands halt to AI data center expansion; Dutch police seize break-in tools, suspected stolen items from construction site

By Jowi Morales
Publication Date: 2026-11-08 13:20:00



Amsterdam police have arrested 150 to 200 protesters at a Microsoft data center site on suspicion of trespassing. According to a Facebook post by the authorities [machine translated], tools designed for breaking into the site were seized from the protesters, who were then allowed on their way to protest peacefully. However, it appears that some members of the group decided to enter the construction site “with violence” anyway, forcing the police to intervene and leading to their arrest. There were also some allegedly stolen items from the construction site found among the belongings of some of the protesters, plus damage and vandalism done to the data center site.