Tempers cool at site of Olympia war protest

Turmoil eases at port; protesters at forum criticize police actions

Heather Woodward | The Olympian • Published November 12, 2007

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OLYMPIA — Iraq War protesers clashed with police early Sunday morning as criticism of police crowd control tactics mounted.

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Olympia police arrested three people and sprayed at least two others with pepper spray Sunday morning. Twelve people were arrested Saturday.

Demonstrators who carried "Support the troops" signs gathered across the street from those protesting military-cargo shipments at the Port of Olympia, but the rest of Sunday was relatively quiet, police said.

Sunday night, roughly 100 people attended a standing-room-only forum at Olympia City Hall organized by City Councilman TJ Johnson to discuss whether police have gone too far in their use of batons and pepper spray at the recent protests.

Johnson told those who attended to fill out citizen complaint forms, which were available at the forum, if they wanted to report something they perceived as improper behavior by a city of Olympia employee.

Olympia police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said police have not swung their batons at anyone but have used them to push back protesters trying to block roadways. And he said everyone who was sprayed with pepper spray was warned at least four times beforehand. Some who attended Sunday night's forum said they were sprayed without warning.

Police response

But Bjornstad said: "No one got sprayed that didn't know it was coming."

Though he stopped short of accusing police officers of misconduct, Johnson called the situation a "significant crisis" and said he decided to organize the forum because he was concerned by police acts he'd witnessed and heard about.

Olympia Mayor Mark Foutch released a written statement Sunday that said any reports of excessive police force that are filed with the city will be "thoroughly and impartially" investigated. But he said police reported that some demonstrators have acted in ways that exceeded their rights to use public roads for political expression. And he said demonstrators need to "express their opinions in ways that do not block the public rights-of-way for unreasonable periods and to respond promptly to lawful requests and orders of police officers on the scene."