Protests continue in Olympia as two demonstrations merge Monday night
Demonstrations continued in Olympia Monday a week after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis.
Monday afternoon, a peaceful rally and march of more than 100 people blocked traffic around Capital Mall in west Olympia.
Jasmyn Pereira organized the west side protest, saying she chose the location to get the attention of people who avoid downtown and the Capitol Campus. The demonstration was against police brutality, particularly involving people of color, and the imbalance of power. Floyd was African American.
Around the same time, another protest had formed in downtown Olympia.
More than 100 demonstrators faced City Hall, home to Olympia Police Department. Outside of the building were officers from Olympia and Lacey police departments, and deputies with the Sheriff’s Office riot team, according to Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza.
By 8 p.m., the police had used a flashbang explosive and pepper balls to move part of that crowd back. They had moved closer and thrown bottles of water at the officers — Olympia Police Lt. Paul Lower later told The Olympian they had also thrown rocks and food debris.
Early Monday evening, the protests merged when demonstrators on the west side made their way downtown, eventually growing to include several hundred people.
Video posted by the local Thurston Co. Scanner, News, & Weather Blog shows Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby speaking to protesters and taking a knee with Pereira and others.
Selby told The Olympian she had been waiting for an opportunity when it felt appropriate to be part of the protest — that she didn’t want it to be about her, but to stand in solidarity and “honor their protest and the reason they’re there.”
“I knew that I had to, as Mayor, really stand up in some meaningful way,” Selby said.
Pereira said Selby approached and looked like she was in tears, saying she wanted to support them and get the police to kneel with them — but that she’s a white woman and doesn’t know if it’s her place to say it.
“I was telling her that people need to hear her say that,” Pereira said, because she is an influential figure in a position of power.
Some people in the crowd were angry, Pereira said, most of whom she called “anarchist, punk, angsty white kids” trying to hop onto to a movement and start problems.
Selby eventually got on the megaphone, Pereira said, and was greeted by joyful cheers. The video shows her kneeling with protesters, and Pereira said she later got one of the police officers to kneel with her as well.
According to Selby, the officer who kneeled was actually Interim Police Chief Aaron Jelcick, and City Manager Jay Burney kneeled, too.
The protesters then marched around downtown, blocking traffic, for about an hour, chanting familiar chants such as “No justice, no peace” and “Black Lives Matter” as well as “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA,” “A badge is not a license to kill,” and “What was his name? George Floyd. What did he say? ‘I can’t breathe.’”
At the earlier protest on the west side, there were also calls to “Fire officer K. Hull.” Hull, who Lt. Lower said is an Olympia corrections officer who worked at the Sunday protest, was accused on social media of saying “I can put my knee on her” as they arrested a person attending the protest. In Minneapolis, Floyd died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.
After seeing the social media post, people contacted OPD, Lt. Lower said. Interim Police Chief Aaron Jelcick announced Monday there would be an investigation into the allegation.
The combined march through downtown was largely peaceful — though there was a scuffle after which some marchers reported seeing a person with a gun. Lower confirmed that police received those reports, and said there were people in the crowd with firearms, but that the department didn’t know of any that had been brandished.
The majority of the people who started on the west side left by the time the sun went down, Pereira told The Olympian.
After circling back toward City Hall, the protest turned more volatile. Lower said officers heard a few loud bangs, which they believe were likely fireworks, and that a group started throwing glass bottles and rocks at the City Hall building and officers. A small window at City Hall was broken, Lower said.
There were reports of windows of nearby businesses being broken, Lower said, and of a fire lit in a dumpster.
At this point, due to the violence and property damage, the demonstration “escalated to a riot,” Lower said. Officers threatened to arrest the people still there for felony assault and ultimately deployed CS gas (tear gas), pepper balls, and flashbangs to disperse the crowd. State Patrol also assisted in the effort — Lower confirmed that National Guard was not part of the response here.
Many of the people still left at the scene dispersed, but some fractured into small groups. As of 11:15 p.m., Lower said there were arrests taking place and a large police presence downtown.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 9:03 PM.
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