Police break up Stryker protest
Nine arrested on third day of anti-war action at port
By Christian Hill
The Olympian
25 May 06
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060525/NEWS/60525005

OLYMPIA — In the most emotionally charged of three days of protests, police 
arrested nine people Wednesday for disrupting the arrival of military vehicles 
at the Port of Olympia for shipment to Iraq. 
Those who were arrested stood across Marine Drive to prevent a convoy of Stryker 
vehicles from reaching the port before police stepped in. Passive resistance was 
encountered from the group, according to a police department new release.

“Now if they choose to basically go limp and fall on the ground, they have to be 
picked up ... and carried with their feet dragging to the van,” Cmdr. Tor 
Bjornstad said. “The level of the force we use is pretty much based on the 
response of the individual we’re dealing with. We don’t use any more than is 
necessary.”

More protesters blocked the port’s gate entrance after a convoy of military 
vehicles arrived using Franklin Street, but there were no additional arrests. In 
some cases, authorities had to clear the road by dragging protesters whose 
linked arms were hidden in tubes. 

There was some scuffling between police and the protesters, punctuated by 
screams and yelling by protesters and stern orders from authorities.

After the arrests, officials locked the doors into Olympia City Hall and the 
municipal jail for about 90 minutes so protesters who had arrived to support 
those who were arrested couldn’t disrupt city business, Olympia police Sgt. Jim 
Partin said. 

There were six arrests made Tuesday and one Monday, when the first convoys of 
Stryker vehicles began arriving at the Port of Olympia. 

The protesters have long opposed military shipments at the Port of Olympia, 
saying a public agency funded with local tax dollars should not contribute to 
what they consider a illegal and immoral war.

Arrested Wednesday were: Douglas Brinkerhoff, 18; Patricia Imani, 44; Joseph 
Keesler, 22; Tanya Kinigstein, 18; Sandy Mayes 51; Melissa Roberts, 44; 
Gabrielle Sloane, 23; Chris Stegman, 55; and a 16-year-old male, who was also 
arrested Tuesday. They were arrested on probable cause for pedestrian 
interference. 

The prosecutor will determine what charges to file, according to police.

The protesters were booked and released later in the afternoon. 

Reached Wednesday evening, Stegman said he had the day off from work and went to 
see what was happening. He said he found himself drawn to the group of 
protesters who told him six planned to get 
arrested.

He joined them spontaneously because he said he opposed the port being part of 
the route where fighting machines are sent into Iraq.

“I’m basically just glad that it was peaceful, nonviolent civil disobedience. 
... I didn’t see it as being disrespectful to the soldiers,” said Stegman, a 
political activist and conscientious objector during the Vietnam War.

The law prohibits someone from walking, standing or sitting in such a manner as 
to block passage of another person or vehicle.

“I think these arrests are a little overkill,” said Joshua Elliot, 25, one of 
the protesters arrested and booked Tuesday for pedestrian interference, a 
misdemeanor. “The people being arrested are doing everything they can to have 
their voices heard.”

Elliot called the protesters’ activity at the port the “last avenue” of the 
people because Congress and the Bush administration have not acted to stop the 
war.

But Greg Young, 49, looked on in apparent disgust. He was meeting with his son, 
a lieutenant in the Stryker brigade, at the port. 

“This kind of stuff just irritates ... me,” he said, watching the heated 
encounter between the protesters and police at the port’s main gate.

The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division will leave soon for a 
second yearlong deployment to Iraq, and its vehicles and other equipment are 
being shipped from the Port of Olympia. The ship that will take the equipment 
overseas has yet to arrive.

The formal deployment ceremony for the brigade is scheduled for next week at the 
Army post.

The port received seven convoys of Stryker vehicles Wednesday, spokeswoman Patti 
Grant said.

The convoys of military equipment arriving at the Port of Olympia will continue 
through next week, said Joe Hitt, a civilian spokesman at Fort Lewis, where the 
Stryker brigade is based.

Two of the protesters arrested have claimed that Olympia police manhandled and 
used “cruel and unusual tactics” to arrest them, according to a posting on 
olyblog.net, a local community-based blog. 

One of the protesters wrote on the blog that she was slammed against a police 
car three times by officers.

There have been requests for complaint forms from the police department, 
Bjornstad said. He wasn’t aware of any being turned in yet but added, “we 
anticipate those are forthcoming.”

He said officers on the scene gave the protesters the opportunity to disperse 
peacefully or be arrested.