United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

Mainstream newspapers in the Puget Sound region are paying notably more attention to what port militarization protesters in the Pacific Northwest are doing and saying in their fifth series of confrontations with authorities protecting shipments of war matériel through three civilian ports in the region (Olympia, May 2006; Tacoma, March 2007; Grays Harbor/Aberdeen, May 2007; Olympia, November 2007; Tacoma, August 2008). -- On Wednesday, the Seattle Times published a recap of the port militarization resistance action connected with the USNS Brittin's recent visit to the Port of Tacoma.[1] -- Noelene Clark reported that both demonstrators and police claimed success. -- Wednesday's edition of the News Tribune (Tacoma) carried a brief review of the PMR action, putting the total number arrested at 14 and reporting on complaints about police behavior to the Tacoma City Council Tuesday evening.[2] -- On Wednesday evening, the News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) posted an account of the arraignment of Legrand Jones, an Olympia attorney arrested for refusing to identify himself to police on Jul. 30.[2] -- (The News Tribune covered almost none of the legal proceedings connected with the more extensive March 2007 PMR action, and almost never quoted any antiwar activists in their coverage.) -- And on Wednesday afternoon, News Tribune reporter Mike Gilbert called attention to an Indymedia "wrap up of the last week's events at the Port of Tacoma and outside Fort Lewis, from the protesters' perspective."[4] -- The Indymedia review, posted below, is the most comprehensive account that has yet been published.[5] ...

12 ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT TACOMA-AREA DEMONSTRATION
By Noelene Clark

Clashes between Tacoma-area police and anti-war protesters trying to gum up a military transport operation have resulted in at least 12 arrests in the past week.

The protesters, who began demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma and Fort Lewis on Thursday night, are part of a movement targeting civilian ports used to support the Iraq war. The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Strykers -- armored combat vehicles recently returned from Iraq -- were being moved from a transport ship to Fort Lewis.

The same group of protesters, the Port Militarization Resistance, was responsible for demonstrations at the Tacoma port in March 2007 that ended with three arrests and police launching tear gas. The group also protested at Olympia's port in May 2006, in which paramedics treated protesters after police fired pepper spray, and again in November 2007, when police used pepper spray and arrested more than 40. [NOTE: There was also PMR resistance to a military shipment through Grays Harbor/Aberdeen in May 2007. —M.J.]

"It wasn't like last year," Tacoma police spokesman Tom Williams said. "There was nowhere near the volume of protesters out there. It was relatively calm this year."

Protesters estimate about 50 people demonstrated each night between Thursday and Monday, compared with 200 people in March 2007 when the Strykers were transported to Iraq.

Patrick Edelbacher, who is part of the Port Militarization Resistance, said the protesters briefly delayed some military transport vehicles by linking arms to block roadways. The equipment -- more than 260 Stryker vehicles, more than 400 other vehicles such as Humvees and trucks, and almost 700 containers -- was transported according to schedule, said Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek.

Edelbacher said the recent demonstrations were a victory for the anti-war movement because of how costly it is for the government to manage protests.

"We want cities to say, 'We don't want to be involved with this anymore because it's economically ineffective and disastrous when it comes to police activity and conflicts with protesters,'" Edelbacher said.

Local law-enforcement agencies and the Port of Tacoma spent $500,000 to $800,000 on extra support during last year's protests, said Port spokeswoman Tara Mattina.

"It's definitely a security expense for the surrounding cities, the military, and for the port," she said.

This year's protest was more orderly, Mattina said, partly because communication among police, the military, and port security has been improved.

"There were some lessons that we learned from the last time about how best to handle this kind of situation," she said.

Lakewood police arrested nine people, three each on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, on suspicion of disorderly conduct and failure to disperse, said spokeswoman Heidi Hoffman. The protesters were blocking the roadway, Hoffman said.

Tacoma police arrested three protesters, one of whom was struck with a Taser, hospitalized, and later booked on suspicion of third-degree assault, Williams said.

That man, 20-year-old Forest Student, was part of a group of protesters surrounding a police vehicle and making threats, Williams said. An officer struck Student in the chest with a Taser after he and other protesters ignored repeated warnings to back off, Williams said.

Edelbacher said demonstrators approached the vehicle and asked the officer to leave but that he wasn't acting in a threatening manner.

All arrested protesters have been released from the Pierce County Jail. It wasn't clear Tuesday if charges would be filed.

Six days of anti-war protests centering on Stryker combat vehicles returning from Iraq through the Port of Tacoma resulted in 14 arrests, Tacoma and Lakewood police said, far fewer than at previous demonstrations.

Fort Lewis officials said Tuesday that they’d moved all of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division’s vehicles and cargo containers from the port back to the post.

Some of the protesters criticized police handling of the demonstrations at Tuesday’s City Council meeting in Tacoma.

“What I have noticed in my years of living in Tacoma, is that the police respond in certain ways (to protesters). . . . The city itself has been opposed to opposition itself,” said videographer Joe La Sac, who was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of trespassing.

“The city had agreements with the businesses that are down there, ahead of time, to arrest people. It’s going out of your way to arrest people.”

“Olympia has had terrible problems conducting the transfer of legitimate military equipment. . . . Seattle has called upon Tacoma’s team and praised their training and ability,” he said.

The protests saw one demonstrator Tasered and arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault. Others were arrested for trying to hold up military vehicles near the Army post.

Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek said Tuesday that 260 Strykers, more than 400 other vehicles and about 700 cargo containers “were successfully and safely moved to the installation using both military and civilian transport.”

“Port and redeployment operations are large, complex missions, and our success is due in no small part to the tireless efforts of the law enforcement professionals who helped us get our equipment safely home,” he said.

The operation was completed without the significant public disturbances that marked the return of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division’s equipment last November at the Port of Olympia, and the departure of 4th Brigade trucks through the Port of Tacoma in March 2007.

The March 2007 protests at the Port of Tacoma resulted in 37 arrests. More than 60 people were arrested in the November 2007 protests at the Port of Olympia.

Most of the protesters were part of the Port Militarization Resistance group, based in Olympia.

“The war is against international law and immoral,” the group said in a statement Tuesday. “It has to be stopped and that is what we are doing.”

It’s not a crime to refuse to identify yourself to a police officer. That’s what Olympia attorney Legrand Jones is arguing after his arrest during anti-war demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma last week.

Jones, 38, pleaded not guilty to charges of trespassing and obstructing a police officer in Tacoma Municipal Court Wednesday.

His attorney, William Ferrell, asked Court Commissioner Dennis Ball to toss out the case against Jones, who is accused of coming onto port property, approaching a fence and then refusing to give officers his ID.

Ferrell said in court that the fence had “No Trespassing” signs posted on it, but the area in front of the fence was not marked.

“Typically, when you see a ‘No Trespassing’ sign on a fence, it applies to the area beyond the fence, not some indeterminate area (before) the fence,” Ferrell argued. “With regard to the obstruction, I would call the court’s attention to the fact we don’t have a ‘stop and identify’ statute in the state of Washington . . . If police feel they have probable cause to arrest an individual, they can take him into custody and identify him through the normal procedures.”

City prosecutor Keith Echterling countered that there was probable cause to continue with the case and that the merits of Ferrell’s arguments would be best dealt with at trial. Ball agreed that there was enough evidence for the case to continue.

Echterling declined to comment on the case through a supervisor. Tacoma police officials also declined to comment.

In an interview, Jones said he and two others approached the fence last Wednesday evening to see if they could see the Stryker vehicles that were being unloaded after returning from Iraq.

During the protests, Tacoma police had been issuing trespass-warning notices to first-time violators, keeping a list, and then making an arrest if the person trespassed again. The two people with Jones were released with warnings.

“I don’t have to show my papers on demand, I don’t live in that kind of world,” Jones said. His law firm produces a pamphlet called “What are my rights?,” which includes a section that says you can’t be arrested merely for not giving your name to police.

Ferrell, Jones’ attorney, said he too was asked for identification while conducting an investigation on behalf of his client.

On Sunday, he went down to see site of the arrest, which was near the intersection of East 11th Street and Port of Tacoma Road, and was stopped by Port security officers and asked for identification. Legally, he didn’t have to comply, but did so in the interest of expediency, he said.

“My sense was that they would have arrested me if I had not,” Ferrell said. He said the officers told him there had been had been “complaints of people taking photographs.” Taking photographs in a public place is not illegal, Ferrell noted.

Jones attended his arraignment wearing a gray mechanic’s jumpsuit with the word ‘Lawyer’ emblazoned on the back. He and about half a dozen supporters bound their wrists with black plastic zip ties during the hearing.

The Seattle Indymedia Center has its own wrap up of last week's events at the Port of Tacoma and outside Fort Lewis, from the protesters' perspective. [See #5 below.]

It's looking like this chapter of port protests has come to an end. This protest proved that we can evolve tactically to meet the needs of a situation. A lot of lasting change will come of this action.

As the 4th Stryker Brigade 2nd Combat Infantry Division returns to Ft. Lewis through the Port of Tacoma, people from throughout the Northwest have taken direct action to blockade the paths of these Stryker vehicles. Fifteen arrests so far have been made during blockades attempted at both the Port of Tacoma and Ft. Lewis and in general resistance to the militarization of publicly owned ports and our communities at large.

The intended effect of these demonstrations is to raise the social and economic cost of the war. The excessive security costs caused by the protests cut away at the profits made by accepting military shipments and make ports less likely to accept shipments in the future. After the Port of Olympia demonstrations, the military reimbursed the port for security costs. Steve Hall, City Manager for the City of Olympia, announced after similar protests at the Port of Olympia, that the city would be unprepared to accept another military shipment without calling in the National Guard. We are told that these actions taken to blockade military shipments in the Northwest have inspired others in the anti-war movements across the country take more radical and direct action to have a concrete impact on stopping the war. If so much resistance was shown in every port in the country in response to every military shipment, the war would be impossible to continue.

Demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma began the day the USNS Brittin, the boat carrying 900 Stryker vehicles, arrived on Tuesday, July 29th. On Thursday, July 31st, there was a march of approximately 40 people into the port. Two women, Kelly Beckham and Kteeo, were arrested. After seeing Strykers driving down a nearby cross street and out of the port Beckham and Kteeo took off running to catch up with them. The two women were followed by their fellow demonstrators and about 15 police officers on bikes. The officers beat Beckham and Kteeo to the strikers and formed a line. Beckham and Kteeo along with about 20 other demonstrators stood in front of the line of cops. Beckham was pulled across the police line and arrested. Kteeo was pulled across the police line by her hair, slammed to the ground, lifted up in a head lock then slammed down again. Police then kneeled on her back. This all happened while she loudly repeated "I'm not resisting arrest." Beckham is being charged with obstruction and property destruction. Kteeo is being charged with obstruction and resisting arrest.

Friday night, August 1st, protesters effectively blocked a convoy of military equipment on Freedom Bridge at the 122 exit to a gate into Ft. Lewis, the military base where the Strykers were based. Three were arrested during this action, including one person who was arrested for asking an officer what his badge number was. The police were taken by surprise, and soon approximately 20 to 30 police cars arrived from three different departments. Later that night, a truck transporting military equipment was blocked on another bridge at a gate to Ft. Lewis, exit 123. There were 7 people blocking the bridge, with maybe 10 more demonstrating on the sidewalk. Three were arrested.

August 2nd, late at night, a lock down blocked the main gate of Ft. Lewis, Exit 120, stopped a trunk transporting a Stryker vehicle for twenty minutes. Three people were in lockboxes, a device made out of PVC piping and other materials by which they locked their arms to each other. These protesters were removed from the gate and brought to a field. The protesters still refused to move from the devices for another two and a half hours. During this time the police attempted a multitude of tactics in attempts to remove the protesters. These included, but were not limited to, calling in the fire department to remove the demonstrators from their devices (the department refused to touch the protesters), calling in two specialists (who could not solve the “problem”), googling lockboxes (which yielded no results). After these attempts and two and a half hours, the protesters, hypothermic and hungry, decided to release themselves.

While in jail protester Patti Imani was subjected to discrimination and psychological abuse. The police would begin her booking process, asking her standard questions. When Imani, who is hearing impaired, asked for an ASL interpreter the police would put her into solitary confinement and refuse to continue her booking until she became "more cooperative." Imani was released 15 minutes after the police finished her booking, eight hours after she was originally arrested.

After the blockade was broken, a car full of activists was detained by military police for an hour and a half at the gates of Fort Lewis. There were perhaps three jurisdictions there, including Lakewood Police, Washington State Patrol, and Fort Lewis Police. It seems that while they were turning around, one of the departments ran their license plate and a red flag came up indicating that they were protesters. A lieutenant and sergeant personally supervised the detainment. The five in the car had their information taken down, were told they were would arrested by military police if they ever returned to Fort Lewis, and were given tickets for failure to proof insurance and failure to proof registration. A police dog sniffed their car. An officer, while on the phone, was overheard explaining that a drug dog would help establish probable cause for a full search of the car. They kept refusing a search, and eventually were let go.

This is the first time the port militarization resistance movement actively resisted at a military base. Over the past year since the last port militarization resistance demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma, the police have had time to review and readjust their tactics in dealing with the demonstrators. Taking the resistance to Fort Lewis was in response to the changing tactics of the police. The police were taken by surprise by this change in tactics and venue and were less prepared to respond.

Sunday, August 3rd, demonstrators, knowing that police expected them at night, broke with their pattern and showed up in the middle of the day. Twenty people demonstrated for most of the day inside the “free speech zone” designated by the police. In the late afternoon, as people began to leave, there was about 10 to 15 demonstrators left. Two police cars drove into the designated free speech zone. Demonstrators standing near one of the cars were told by an officer, driving car number 773, that he was going to Taser one of them. He brandished his weapon and pointed it at them. The demonstrators were breaking no laws or posing any threat to the officer at the time. The officer turned around towards Forest Student, a demonstrator standing alone several feet away from the police car. Forest Student was tasered twice, once while standing and again after hitting the ground. Student was then arrested for third-degree assault, a charge that was then dropped. Eyewitness testimony proves Student’s arms were crossed and he was not threatening the officer at all. The officer was sitting in his car at the time and Tasered him through the window.

On Monday, August 4th, 40 people marched down to the port carrying banners and chanting. The group marched down the middle of a major street through the port. Eventually they were pushed to the sidewalk outside of an entrance to the port. The group waited beside the gate, determined to prevent military equipment from leaving the quay. At one point during the night the Tacoma Police Department walked around behind the group, specifically targeting Joe La Sac, the groups’ only videographer. He was grabbed and arrested for “trespassing.” As demonstrators moved closer to watch the arrest, members of TPD surrounded the group, pointing tasers at them on two sides.

As demonstrators were leaving the port, they were surrounded by police cars. The demonstrators were not able to access their vehicles for a period of time. While the demonstrators attempted to figure out an exit strategy the police turned on their lights and sirens as an intimidation technique. The demonstrators made it out of the port safely.