Police shooting protesters chain themselves to prosecutor’s house fence
Three protesters were arrested Thursday after chaining themselves to the fence at Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim’s house.
At least a dozen protesters chanted outside Tunheim’s home in the Steamboat Island area. The protesters are calling for Tunheim to drop the assault charges against Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin, who were shot May 21 by Olympia Police Officer Ryan Donald.
About 10 p.m. Thursday, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested two adults and one juvenile who were chained to the gate in front of Tunheim’s driveway. They were charged with criminal trespassing, cited and released, Lt. Cliff Ziesemer said.
No injuries were reported.
Many of the protesters at Tunheim’s house also have been gathering regularly at the prosecutor’s office inside the Thurston County Courthouse. Caro Gonzales was among two protesters arrested Wednesday morning for blocking the office’s doorway and disrupting business at the courthouse. They were charged with interference and obstruction of a court, which is a gross misdemeanor.
Gonzales said another protest is planned for 3 p.m. Monday on the steps of the Capitol. The group will urge Gov. Jay Inslee to “investigate the investigation” of the Olympia police shooting and investigate Tunheim’s charging decision.
“It’s up to Tunheim if he wants us to stop,” Gonzales told The Olympian. She said if Tunheim were to drop the charges against Thompson and Chaplin, the protesters would shift their focus toward charging Officer Donald.
Thompson and Chaplin will be arraigned Tuesday in Thurston County Superior Court. Both men were charged with two counts of second-degree assault in an altercation with Donald. Donald, who was not charged with any crime, told investigators that he shot the two men after one of them tried to attack him with a skateboard.
“I believe Officer Donald was acting in good faith and had actual good faith fear that he was being assaulted and could face real injury,” Tunheim said Sept. 1.
This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Police shooting protesters chain themselves to prosecutor’s house fence."