Five more port protesters arrested
BY JIM SZYMANSKI
THE OLYMPIAN
May 23, 2006
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Olympia police arrested five people this morning who were protesting a
convoy of Stryker vehicles being driven to the Port of Olympia by Fort
Lewis Army soldiers.

The five, some wearing bandanas over their faces, were arrested in
addition to an arrest earlier in the day of Andrew C. Hendricks, 37, of
Olympia, who was accused of trespassing on port property.

Hendricks had placed a bicycle lock on one of two front gates to the
port. The incident occurred about 3:15 a.m.

Later in the day, protesters greeted a second day of Stryker vehicle
arrivals at the port. The vehicles and other military trucks are being
sent to the war in Iraq prior to a deployment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade
from Fort Lewis next month. The Fort Lewis Brigade will be replacing one
from Alaska in Iraq, said Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Hitt.

The deployment from Fort Lewis will include about 4,000 soldiers, Hitt
said.

Police commander Steve Nelson said those arrested after Hendricks were
accused of "pedestrian interference." They had been crossing in a
crosswalk in front of Strykers as they were arriving, slowing them down.

Protesters said they thought what they were doing was legal because they
were walking in a crosswalk.

The names of the five arrested were not immediately available.