UPDATE: The Pierce County Superior Court appeal case scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Fri., Jan. 4, has been postponed until Feb. 1. -- It was interesting to note in various reviews of noteworthy events of 2007 in local publications a deafening silence about the growth of an important form of civil resistance to the illegal actions of the Bush administration: Port Militarization Resistance. -- The movement grew and evolved through three phases: Tacoma (March 2007), Grays Harbor/Aberdeen (May), and Olympia (November 2007). -- The legal cases from the Tacoma PMR campaign continue to wend their way through the legal process. -- In the message copied below, Phan Nguyen urges supporters to turn out on Fri., Jan. 4, at 1:30 p.m. in Rm. 304 of Pierce County Superior Court (930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma) and on Tues., Jan. 8, at 1:30 p.m., in courtroom 2 of Tacoma Municipal Court ((930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma). -- The first date is an appeal by prosecutors of the dismissal of thirteen cases, and the second is a pre-trial hearing and motion to dismiss the charges against eight activists. -- For more background, see here. -- "Please come and show your support," Phan asked, whose offense was to carry a copy of the United States Constitution in a backback to a demonstration. "It does help!" ...
1. [From Phan Nguyen] Don't forget the Port of Tacoma! While there are currently no court cases under way for the recent Port of Olympia arrests, criminal cases are continuing for the Port of Tacoma arrestees. Here are the upcoming court dates: Prosecution appeals the dismissals of thirteen activists
Pierce County Superior Court, Rm. 304
Friday, Jan. 4, 1:30 p.m. Pre-trial hearing and motion to dismiss for eight more activists
Tacoma Muncipal Court, courtoom 2
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1:30 p.m. Both courts are located in the County-City Buidling in downtown Tacoma, 930 Tacoma Ave S, Tacoma 98402. ----------------- Please come and show your support. It does help! Here are some further details: In March 2007, the Tacoma police made thirty-seven arrests relating to demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma, where vehicles for the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division were being shipped out as part of the troop "surge." Since its deployment, 33 soldiers from the 4th Stryker Brigade have been killed in Iraq, and an exponentially greater number of Iraqis have been killed and wounded as a result of the troop surge. The surge has also contributed to a greater displacement of Iraqis. This ethnic cleansing has been translated to mean that the surge worked. Well, if you want to put it that way. While U.S. soldiers are being used to enforce the occupation of Iraq and forestall any true resolution to the chaos there, the City of Tacoma continues to pursue baseless charges against local activists from Tacoma, Olympia, Port Townsend, Seattle, and Bellingham. PROSECUTOR APPEALS DISMISSALS OF 13 ACTIVISTS Pierce County Superior Court, Rm. 304
under Judge Linda Lee
Friday, Jan. 4, 1:30 p.m. On July 18, the Tacoma Municipal Court dismissed, with prejudice, charges for thirteen activists who were accused of violating a traffic law. The judge ruled that the traffic law did not apply because, well, the arrests had nothing to do with traffic. So who were these traffic violators? Nine activists were arrested simply for wearing backpacks. Fifteen activists were arrested for attempting to serve a citizens' injunction against military shipments, with only three of those fifteen charged. One legal observer was arrested while trying to ask a police officer a question. The prosecutor's goal is for the court to change the dismissal WITH prejudice to a dismissal WITHOUT prejudice, so they can come up with some other stupid reason to charge us and future protesters. On Friday, the Superior Court will hear the prosecution's appeal against the following defendants: BACKPACK 9: Charlie Bevis, Leah Coakley, Dennis (Tenzing) Dutton, Patrick Edelbacher, Liz Goldstein, Phan Nguyen, Matt Reiss, Jody Tiller, Tom McCarthy CITIZENS' INJUNCTION 3: Somerset Fetter, Wes Hamilton, Sasha Crow SHE WHO DARED QUESTION AN OFFICER: Karen Weill *** MEANWHILE, MORE MOTIONS FOR DISMISSAL ARE TO BE HEARD Tacoma Muncipal Court
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1:30 p.m. Attorney Larry Hildes has filed motions for dismissal for the remaining protest cases. Jeff Berryhill, Wally Cuddeford, Caitlin Esworthy: These three were arrested on March 3 and initially charged with felony assault, although they were the ones assaulted. Jeff was shot with a "less lethal" projectile round at close range. Wally was tasered three times while on the ground. Caitlin was attacked by the cops. Their felony assault charges were dismissed, later replaced with charges of misdemeanor assault and obstruction. Caitlin's misdemeanor assault charge was later dismissed. Wally was arrested again on March 6 while attempting to inform the Tacoma City Council about his treatment by the police. He was unable to explain everything to the City Council within his allotted two minutes, so the police threw him in jail again. Peter Ryan was arrested on March 9 after police used tear gas and various "less lethal" projectiles on a crowd of nonviolent demonstrators that included him. (This was the infamous "Give Peace a Chance" incident on YouTube.) Sky Cohen, Fiona Thompson, Jesse Schultz, and Aris Lopez were arrested on March 12 for failure to disperse after riot police once again charged and attacked a crowd of nonviolent demonstrators. Lisa Portillo was also arrested on March 12, but she has a separate court date in the far future. Among the many arguments for dismissal is that the police used skewed "intelligence" reports to justify the arrests. The "intelligence" reports were mostly culled from internet sources, such as by spying on listservs like this one [OlyPMR].
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