Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Confronting the War Machine in the Pacific Northwest

Ron Jacobs | 17.03.2007 14:49 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Repression | World

On March 5th, 2007, several people were attacked and at least three arrested by police in Tacoma, WA. at a series of protests against shipments of military supplies at the city's port. The reasons for the attacks and arrests were not clear to onlookers, who told the press that the protesters were doing nothing but holding signs. In an exchange I had with Jeff Berryhill of Olympia, WA (who was arrested along with Wally Cudderford and Caitlin Esworthy), I was told that all he was doing when he was shot with a rubber bullet by the police was "holding a sign that read "Courage to Resist.org." (Courage to Resist is an organization supporting military resisters.) The next thing he knew he was hit in the thigh by a police-fired projectile. All of this occurred in the predawn hours of March 5th, 2007. The reason for the unusual timing of the arrests is because even though the protest began the evening before, the actual loading of the equipment did not begin until after midnight.

When one thinks of militant political action taking place in the United States, their thoughts usually turn to cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New York. The US South and its Pacific Northwest probably don't spring immediately to mind. This is despite the rich legacy of militant labor protest in the filed, woods and apple orchards of the northwest and the Seattle General Strike of 1919, not to mention the actions of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party and the Seattle Liberation Front in the 1960s and early 1970s. As for the US South, one tends to think in terms of militant right wing political action against blacks and labor, but the converse of that is equally true. It was in the South where Martin Luther King, Jr. began his campaign of militant non-violence. It was in the US South where students began the sit-in campaigns to desegregate public facilities and it was in the US South where Robert Williams confronted the night riders of the Ku Klux Klan with and armed force of African-Americans when confronted with the violent racism of the Klansmen in white and in blue.

Equally under the radar in terms of militancy is the US Midwest. Once again, this misconception is based on an ignorance of history. It was in Madison, Wisconsin where some of the most radical and militant protests against the war in Vietnam took place. The history of the first Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) tells us that the greatest proponents of the direct action form of protest came out of the Midwestern colleges: Ann Arbor, MI., Kent, Ohio, Grinell in Iowa, to name a few. Why was this the case? Perhaps because of an anger at discovering that America wasn't all she was cracked up to be. Perhaps a reflection of a working person's understanding that action got things done, not words. Or perhaps a combination of these and other factors.

The Northwest Shows the Way

On March 5th, 2007, several people were attacked and at least three arrested by police in Tacoma, WA. at a series of protests against shipments of military supplies at the city's port. The reasons for the attacks and arrests were not clear to onlookers, who told the press that the protesters were doing nothing but holding signs. In an exchange I had with Jeff Berryhill of Olympia, WA (who was arrested along with Wally Cudderford and Caitlin Esworthy), I was told that all he was doing when he was shot with a rubber bullet by the police was "holding a sign that read "Courage to Resist.org." (Courage to Resist is an organization supporting military resisters.) The next thing he knew he was hit in the thigh by a police-fired projectile. All of this occurred in the predawn hours of March 5th, 2007. The reason for the unusual timing of the arrests is because even though the protest began the evening before, the actual loading of the equipment did not begin until after midnight. Protests continued each evening throughout the week, although no more arrests were made until Friday, March 9th when a woman was taken in by police for carrying a unauthorized backpack into a zone. The Friday protests were some of the largest of the week and were met with tear gas, concussion grenades and other forms of police violence. Among the protesters was Attorney Lynne Stewart, who is out on bail following her questionable conviction on "providing support to terrorists" charges.

If one recalls, there was a similar protest last May at the Port of Olympia, some thirty miles south of Tacoma. Those protests resulted in the arrests of a couple dozen folks and a few injuries. in addition, they appear to have caused the military to relocate its shiploading operations to Tacoma. in fact, the trial of these folks, known as the Olympia 22, begins on March 26th. The judge in the trial has disallowed the necessity defense and, like the military judge in the first trial of war resister Lt. Watada, does not want the trial to be about the war. Although military officials are reluctant to give a clear answer as to why there have been no more shipments loaded at the Olympia port since the May protests, the fact that they are now taking place at Tacoma speaks volumes.

To the credit of all of the antiwar groups in the northwest -- from the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation to the sponsors of the direct actions at the Port, the Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) -- the solidarity shown for these protests has been constant and clear. The Tacoma action had the backing of Vets for Peace, the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, the Washington Greens, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and others. This solidarity is important, especially in the face of attempts by the State and the media to delineate what is good protest and what is bad protest. Indeed, the Tacoma News Tribune reported on the actions of the protesters arrested and shot by quoting the police officer in charge of policing the event: demonstrators “have been told they could protest but they have to follow the rules, including, among others, that they can’t block streets, sidewalks or cross a police line." This was followed by a quote from a military official telling reporters that he only wanted to see the weapons of this brutal war be loaded on in "as safe a manner as possible."

When I asked Berryhill for the PMR's rationale behind the direct actions at the ports, he told me, "I believe the strategy we are employing, which is concentrated on ending our communities involvement with the escalation and continuation of the war is one of many that should be utilized. Obviously other methods are valuable and should be continued, but ours is a direct demonstration to the troops that we want to keep them home safely. Traditional avenues have been used repeatedly (like lobbying, letter writing, and standard marches) with varying degrees of effectiveness. We are hoping to try something a bit unconventional, and in doing so have generated significant publicity and prompted serious interest within peace and justice communities." Asked about the intended effect of the protests on soldiers on the other side of the lines from the protesters, Berryhill responded: "It is also important for the soldiers to witness police repression of democratic assembly. Many joined to uphold the standards and ideals of democracy and liberty and when these are denied to citizens of our country it illustrates the disconnect between the rhetoric of the political elite and the realities we face."

Many communities across the nation, large and small, are connected to the effort by Washington to militarily subjugate the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. It may be that there's a military post or base near the town you live in, or it may be that there is a weapons manufacturer in town. Perhaps your town hosts a company involved in the rendition and torture of prisoners under US control. The fact is that there is hardly a town in this country that the military-industrial complex has not stretched one of its bloody tendrils into. This economic reality not only means we all share some culpability for the destruction and bloodshed carried out in Iraq and Afghanistan; it also means that every one of us has the ability to expose that connection wherever we live and from there, hopefully oppose it.

(The City of Tacoma has dropped the charges against the three individuals arrested Monday morning. According to Berryhill, the original charge was for third degree felony assault on a police officer. The city attorney failed to even file a probable cause and "quickly dismissed the charge." On another note, a student who was videotaping the protests on Tuesday was arrested by Tacoma police officers who insisted he turn off the video camera and when he didn't do so immediately, arrested him.)

This is a developing story. Plese check this site for updates.



Ron Jacobs is the author of The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground (Verso 1997). His first novel, Short Order Frame Up, is forthcoming from Mainstay Press. He can be reached at:  rjacobs3625@charter.net.

Ron Jacobs
- Homepage: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar07/Jacobs13.htm

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech