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Wednesday, May 31, 2006 · Last updated 9:21 p.m. PT

Military ship leaves Port of Olympia, protests end peacefully

By RACHEL LA CORTE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A ship carrying military gear bound for Iraq pulled
away from this Puget Sound port Wednesday evening after a week of
protests in which more than three dozen people were arrested.

At least 100 protesters chanted "Stop that boat!" as the 950-foot cargo
ship pulled away from a dock at the Port of Olympia.

No protest boats were evident on the water, but armed Coast Guard
vessels were standing by to intercept any boats that wandered into the
area. There were no arrests.

The demonstrators also staged a brief "die-in" - lying on the ground to
illustrate their opposition to the war in Iraq.

"We know we're not going to stop that boat," said Emmeline Hedenburg,
32, who was sprawled out on rocks along the beach. "We're just here to
say, on the record, no to cultural imperialism."

At one point, a handful of protesters who had been yelling at law
enforcement officers started shaking the fence separating them until
Marco Rossi, with the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, told them
to stop, saying it was pointless to get arrested.

"It's a long struggle," he told them, and they walked away from the fence.

After the ship left, the group gathered for a moment of silence before
leaving the port.

The scene was far different from the night before, when 22 people were
arrested and police pepper-sprayed some protesters who pulled down a
port gate.

Activists began protesting at the port more than a week ago after
learning that Stryker vehicles and other Army gear from the 3rd Brigade,
2nd Infantry Division, a 4,000-soldier unit stationed at Fort Lewis,
were being shipped to Iraq.

The USNS Pomeroy, the largest ship ever to dock in Olympia, arrived
Monday night.

Dan Kimball, Thurston County sheriff's chief criminal deputy, said no
one was seriously injured in the demonstration Tuesday night. Twenty
people were arrested for trespassing after they tore down a gate at the
port entrance and laid down; two others were arrested for failing to
disperse and grabbing officers.

Olympia City Councilman TJ Johnson said Wednesday he was shoved by state
troopers trying to clear the area the night before. He said people were
dispersing, but that pepper spray was shot off anyway.

He said county sheriff's deputies "chose to escalate the situation."

Authorities used pepper spray several times, including once when some in
the crowd started hurling bottles and rocks at the approximately 70 law
enforcement officers on scene, Kimball said.

"The actions that we took were very limited in force," Kimball said. "If
they didn't start throwing things, we would have stood there until they
went home."

Those arrested were released Tuesday night, but will have to go to court
and will likely face fines, Kimball said.

"The majority of Americans know the war is wrong," said protester Drew
Hendricks. "They're waiting for someone to act, and we're acting."

No one was arrested Monday night, but police in riot gear fired pepper
spray as about 150 war protesters tried to enter a port area.

Sixteen people were arrested in three days last week, mostly for
pedestrian interference, during protests against convoys through the
downtown area to the port from the sprawling military post between
Olympia and Tacoma.