The Trail

Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Joe Le Sac Tear gas set off by riot police at peace rally on March 9.

Media Credit: Joe Le Sac Riot police set off tear gas at Port of Tacoma during war protest

Media Credit: Joe Le Sac Police get involved in antiwar protest at the Port of Tacoma.

Approximately 20 UPS students were amongst a group of about 60 peace activists involved in a confrontation with riot police who shot the nonviolent crowd with rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas in the early morning hours on March 10.
Demonstrators had congregated at the Port of Tacoma to protest the loading of a ship bound to Iraq with strykers, trucks, Humvees and other army vehicles.

The purpose of the demonstrations was not to stop the shipment of the military equipment but rather to send the message that they do not approve of the use of their port in helping export a war that they believe is immoral.

"The goal is to send the message that Tacoma is not a place to ship out war," said senior Nicki Vance, a facilitator for Tacoma Students for a Democratic Society.

UPS's own SDS was instrumental in helping coordinate and organize the nonviolent demonstrations beginning March 3. Over the course of the week, the number of UPS protesters had topped at around 70 to as few as 15.

On the evening of Fri. March 9, approximately 200 demonstrators from all over Tacoma, Seattle, Portland and Bellingham congregated at the port to support the mission.
In anticipation of a larger group of demonstrators for the weekend, police officials had barricaded the intersection of Milwaukee Way and Lincoln Avenue with road blocks.

Additionally, they blockaded the port entrance at the intersection of Milwaukee Way and East Eleventh Street by surrounding it with chain link fencing and riot police.

Dressed in complete riot gear, approximately 100 law enforcement officers from the Tacoma Police Department, the King County Sheriffs Department, the Washington State Patrol, the United States Coast Guard and South King County were on hand to control the crowd and keep the peace.

Protesters were nonviolent. They held signs reading, "Destroy the War Machine" and "Troops Home Now." They sang songs and yelled into megaphones.

Several instances occurred when demonstrators shook the chain-link fence surrounding the port entrance. Police responded to the fence-shaking by shooting rubber bullets, hitting a few demonstrators.

As the night grew late and rain began to fall, the group gradually shrunk as many dispersed, calling it a night. Around 2 a.m., demonstrators (mostly students at this point) began marching away from the intersection of Milwaukee Way and East Eleventh Street. They retreated about a mile away from the police to the intersection of Milwaukee Way and Lincoln Avenue near their vehicles.

Following the march of activists, riot police traveled down Milwaukee Way, the street that was blockaded from protesters, meeting protesters at the road blockade at the intersection of Milwaukee Way and Lincoln Avenue.

The protesters chants of "Our Streets" and "Our Port" turned into a unison chant of "Shame on You." Drowned out from the chanting, police officials told the crowd to disperse.

Minutes later, police fired rubber bullets into the crowd.

Staying peaceful despite the confrontation, demonstrators sat down in front of the police blockade and began singing "Give Peace a Chance."

Again, police officials mandated that the demonstrators leave. Minutes later, police fired pepper spray and tear gas into the crowd, escalating the confrontation into fear and chaos for the demonstrators. As the students fled and scrambled into their cars, police continued to advance and fire gas canisters, producing flying sparks and flames.

"They fired tear gas, we backed off, and they kept on firing and advancing so we had to retreat behind the cars we were trying to leave in," freshman David Lev said. "When we did get to our cars, we were forced by the police to abandon several of our comrades, leading to utter chaos for at least the next hour."
Police officials report that they fired into the crowd because several demonstrators started throwing orange sawhorses or road blocks in the direction of officers.

"A large number of protesters started to cause a bit of a disturbance," Brad Graham, Tacoma Police Detective said. "They picked up some of the sawhorses (road blocks) and started throwing them in the direction of officers, and they started sitting down to blockade the street. At that point, officers had to move in and disperse the crowd."

Demonstrators report that they did not throw sawhorses. They admit that several demonstrators did pick up sawhorses after the police started firing but claim none were thrown in the direction of police.

"I was off to the right side," Lev said. "I saw no blockades being thrown. "Some may have been knocked down or pushed aside, but I saw nothing thrown at the police."

Senior Daniel Cairns, junior Joe La Sac and sophomore Erick Peirson all took video footage of the confrontation. They claim their video footage does not cite any demonstrators throwing road blocks.

Additionally, demonstrators witnessed a trucker hauling refined oil pull up to the intersection. The truck driver braked and honked, causing police to approach the truck, throw open the cab door and from what witnesses saw, gas him. Students are not aware of what became of the trucker.

Peirson experienced a heavy dose of gas while he was filming. He shared his footage with King 5 News, which used some of his film in their news report. CHWS offered their services to students who needed assistance from the confrontation.
Junior Peter Ryan was arrested on Friday night. As the gas and sparks flew into the air, he kept his place in the front of the line. Police arrested him as they advanced towards protesters fleeing in their cars.

Earlier in the week, on Sun. March 4, La Sac was detained by police for about an hour. An officer had mandated him to stop filming and shut his camera off. Knowing his camera rights, La Sac refused.
After receiving a complaint from a viewer of La Sac's YouTube video about the altercation, an assistant police chief ordered an investigation from the internal affairs office. Police officers did not have the right to stop La Sac from filming.

Additionally, on Sun. March 11, junior Charlie Bevis was arrested. As an act of civil disobedience, Bevis joined over 30 other peace activists including a city council member from Olympia by getting arrested for disobeying a police mandate that prohibited backpacks from the area and crossing the police line.

• Johanna Wallner is great.

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