Six face felony charges after rally

The six people jailed Thursday after a May Day demonstration in Olympia turned violent include two Evergreen State College students, a South Puget Sound Community College student and three men from California — including one described by a prosecutor as a professional protester.

The three from California are Bryan Riggins, 20, identified in court papers as having been arrested in March during a war protest in San Francisco; Daniel Wilson, 20, identified in court papers as a transient who has a prior arrest for third-degree theft out of Seattle; and a man who identifies himself as Forest A. Student, 20, who has a pending case for allegedly spraying graffiti at Evergreen.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Terri Gailfus called Riggins "a professional protester" in court before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch on Friday. The three local students are Daniel Busby, 20, a South Puget Sound Community College student originally from Milwaukee; and Evergreen students Randall Hunt, 23, and Stephanie Gottschalk, 19.

During Thursday's May Day parade in downtown Olympia, U.S. Bank sustained $4,500 worth of damage after vandals smashed windows there with rocks. Vandals also broke four windows at the Bank of America; officials with that bank did not return phone calls about damage estimates.

When police moved in to try to arrest people suspected of throwing rocks at the windows, marchers grabbed and punched officers and tried to get between them and the suspects, said Olympia Police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad. Police waved batons and fired pepper-spray rounds at marchers, as what was supposed to be a celebration of worker and immigrant rights turned violent.

Bjornstad said that six to 10 masked suspects are thought to have thrown rocks at windows; three of the people who appeared in court Friday were accused of rock-throwing. Police noticed the masked suspects from a distance as they watched the march, and saw them grab rocks from backpacks as they hurled them at the windows, Bjornstad said. It is not against the law to wear a mask in public, and police did not intervene before the vandalism, he said. Those who were arrested appeared in court Friday, with a crowd of nearly 50 supporters on hand.

• Riggins was ordered held Friday with bail set at $10,000 on suspicion of riot and first-degree malicious mischief. He allegedly threw rocks that smashed windows at U.S. Bank on Fourth Avenue. Police saw Riggins throwing rocks at the U.S. Bank building, and he initially refused to give his name, police said.

Riggins said he moved to Washington from California in January, court papers state. He told a pretrial-services official that he is unemployed but "is a participant in a medical study for which he does receive some compensation."

• Student was ordered held Friday on suspicion of second-degree theft and riot, with bail set at $7,500. Student is accused in court papers of running from a detective with another man who allegedly grabbed a narcotics detective's cell phone while the detective was trying to make arrests. Public defender Eric Pilon said in court that the allegations against Student do not involve him actually grabbing the cell phone. Pilon said the case against Student is weak and constitutes "a bit of a stretch for accomplice liability."

Student also is accused of helping the suspect accused of stealing the detective's cell phone by "attempting to switch clothing" with him, "apparently to confuse the police as to their identities."

According to court papers, Student has a misdemeanor malicious-mischief charge pending for spraying graffiti at a dorm at Evergreen. He is barred from being on campus, court papers state. Student said during a pretrial-services interview that he has been living on Milroy Street in Olympia but is about to be evicted. Student's attorney, Larry Hildes, said there is "absolutely no evidence" that Student left the graffiti at Evergreen. Hildes said the value of a cell phone is not enough to justify a felony theft charge. A felony theft in the second degree must exceed $250, he said. He added that Student is innocent.

• Wilson, the third Californian who appeared in court Friday, was ordered held on suspicion of first-degree malicious mischief and riot, with bail set at $5,000. He also is accused in court papers of throwing rocks at U.S. Bank. Two of the people who threw rocks at U.S. Bank are described in court papers as "dressed in black" and "had arranged their clothing to conceal most of their faces."

• Busby was the only one of the six people who appeared in court Friday to have private counsel. Hirsch did not set bail for Busby, allowing him to be released on personal recognizance based on his lack of criminal history, although she did set a 10 p.m. curfew for him. Hirsch found probable cause to support an allegation of a single count of second-degree theft against Busby.

Busby's attorney, Rick Cordes, successfully argued that Hirsch should not find probable cause to support a count of riot, because there was nothing in the probable-cause statement filed by prosecutors to support a riot count.

According to the probable-cause statement, Busby was arrested after two Olympia detectives ran out of Bank of America after rocks were hurled at the windows. While one of the detectives was attempting to apprehend a suspect, other marchers "began to wrestle the arrestee away from detectives," and the detective tried to use his cell phone to call for backup, court papers state. "One member of the crowd held a stick, and several of the masked subjects took a fighting stance," court papers state. "Fearing for his safety and believing he would need both hands to defend himself, (the detective) let go of the female subject and dropped his cell phone. At gunpoint, the throng backed away." A man later identified as Busby took the detective's cell phone and ran away. Busby was apprehended after a chase.

Busby said in his pretrial- services interview that he intends to transfer to Evergreen.

• Hunt was ordered held Friday with bail set at $2,500 on suspicion of first-degree malicious mischief and riot. He was arrested after a chase; a police officer says he saw him throwing rocks at U.S. Bank, court papers state.

Hirsch said she was setting bail for Hunt based on the seriousness of the allegations against him. Pilon, Hunt's court appointed attorney, said the riot allegation is "a bit of a reach," but Hirsch still found probable cause to support it. If Hunt is released from custody, he also must adhered to a 10 p.m. curfew, Hirsch ruled. Hunt is employed part time at Evergreen's library/media department, according to his pretrial- services interview.

• Gottschalk's bail was set at $2,500 after Hirsch found probable cause to support a count of third-degree assault for allegedly punching Bjornstad as police tried to make arrests Friday. Gottschalk has never been arrested and has no prior convictions. She is a freshman at Evergreen.

Hildes, who will represent Gottschalk in subsequent court hearings, said Friday that the allegation of felony assault also is inflated, because for an assault to be felonious, it must cause great bodily injury. Bjornstad said Thursday that he was not injured. Hildes added that Gottschalk did not commit the assault.

Hildes was critical of the high bails for all the suspects, calling the sums "outrageous." He said supporters of the suspects were working to secure bail money for them Friday night.

Jeremy Pawloski covers public safety for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jpawloski@theolympian.com.