Olympia Councilman T.J. Johnson arrested at port protest
by Venice Buhain
The Olympian
March 11, 2007
http://www.theolympian.com/377/story/69893.html

Olympia City Councilman T.J. Johnson was among 23 people arrested at a
Port of Tacoma protest this afternoon, police and protest groups said.

Today's arrests were orderly, both Tacoma police and protesters say,
with those arrested and police communicating during the arrests.

Johnson and the 22 others face charges of criminal obstruction, a
misdemeanor, Tacoma Police Det. Brad Graham said Sunday.

Eight were arrested after bringing backpacks into a zone where they had
been prohibited, Graham said. Police established some areas around the
Port of Tacoma as no-backpack zones last week as a security measure, he
said.

"The protesters were advised that they couldn't bring their backpacks,
and they indicated that they were not going to give them up," Graham said.

Later, 15 people crossed a fence that separated the protest from the
military equipment, he said.

"One by one, they did climb over the barricade," said Linda Frank of
Tacoma, who was acting as a media liaison for the Tacoma Port
Militarization Resistance. That group and the more experienced Olympia
Port Militarization Resistance organized the protests of the Army's use
of the port for shipping military equipment bound for Iraq. "It was very
respectful on both sides," she said.

She said those crossing the fence carried copies of a "Citizen's
Injunction" that ordered the halting of military equipment through the
Port of Tacoma.

Frank said the groups prepared for the civil disobedience and the
arrests. The first group of eight were protesting the prohibition on
backpacks in the protest area.

Information about the hometowns and ages of most of the protesters were
unavailable or unconfirmed as of Sunday evening. Stephanie Johnson, wife
of T.J. Johnson, declined comment Sunday evening.

Police estimated about 100 protesters were at the Port of Tacoma this
afternoon. Since the first weekend in March, anti-war activists have
been protesting the Army's use of the Port of Tacoma for the shipment of
military equipment to Iraq. Shipments include vehicles and other cargo.

For more information about this developing story, read Monday's edition
of The Olympian.

Paul Sand of The News Tribune contributed to this report.