Protests planned as war shipments arrive in Tacoma

The Olympian • Published July 30, 2008

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Military equipment is being unloaded at the Port of Tacoma, and anti-war activists in Olympia and Tacoma are planning their response.

The USNS Brittin arrived at the Tacoma port early Tuesday, according information by Drew Hendricks, a member of Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, posted on OlyBlog, a local community blog.

A spokeswoman at Fort Lewis confirmed military equipment is being offloaded at that port.

Military shipments at the Port of Olympia in May 2006 and November resulted in protests that lasted for days, and dozens were arrested. Charges are pending against some of the protesters arrested in November. In both cases, the equipment being loaded and then unloaded belonged to 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), which served 15 months in Iraq.

There had been some speculation in the local peace community that more military equipment might be unloaded at the port again.

Equipment belonging to 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) was loaded at the Port of Tacoma in March 2007, leading to another round of protests. The brigade returned home after serving 14 months in Iraq. Its formal welcome-home ceremony was July 1.

For more information, read Thursday's Olympian.

Christian Hill covers the Port of Olympia and Lacey for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5427 or at chill@theolympian.com.