Who is Joe Lopez? Pro-Palestinian Microsoft techie fired after disrupting Satya Nadella’s keynote

Amid a prolonged streak of big tech layoffs and other sackings focussed on curbing protests, Microsoft has fired Joe Lopez, according to the Associated Press. The software engineer made headlines earlier this week for disrupting Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote at the tech giant’s Build developer conference in Seattle.

No Azure for Apartheid, a group of “Microsoft workers demanding that Microsoft end all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and govt,” previously shared clips of pro-Palestinian tech staffers interrupting several leading executives’ speeches at Microsoft Build.