About 15 arrested in Olympia (police brutality) protest

[Newsjock]

Source: The Olympian

Olympia police arrested about 15 protesters at Adams and State streets about 9:15 p.m. Thursday after they began throwing bottles at buildings and tried to block the streets with trash bins, witnesses and police said.

The downtown march consisted of about 15 to 20 protesters clad in black, with their faces covered in hoods, handkerchiefs and scarves. The purpose of the march ostensibly was to protest alleged police brutality, including recent police shootings in Portland and the 2008 shooting of Jose Ramirez-Jimenez by Olympia police officers.

The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney deemed Ramirez-Jimenez’s fatal shooting justified.

Olympia Police Lt. Ray Holmes said Thursday night that police would not have interrupted the protest had it remained peaceful. But he said there were numerous reports that protesters were breaking the law by throwing garbage cans in the streets and throwing bottles at buildings. He said police also are investigating reports of graffiti and whether one of the protesters threw a rock through a window downtown.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/04/08/1200190/about-15-arrested-during-protest.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[merwin]

2. Um... ok.

I really don't know what to say.

15-20 hooded protestors dressed in black and throwing garbage cans into the street and bottles at buildings... at night?

Great idea. Protest against police brutality by trying to provoke police brutality. I can't see why they would have ever been arrested. It's one thing for a cop to rough you up without reason, because of your skin color, etc.... it's a completely different story when there's a gang of hooded protesters at night throwing things.

Any cop in his right mind is going to be on full defensive mode and, in my opinion, be justified in using a little non-lethal force if any of the protesters didn't cooperate or were overly agressive toward them.

If you're going to protest against police brutality, don't give the cops any legitimate reason to use force. If you do, then all you're doing is making yourself look like an idiot when you get tasered. However, if you are in a large group and not being violent, then the point comes loud and clear if an officer decides to use force.

[onehandle]

3. Next week they are planning to dress like cartoon arabs and carry box cutters to the airport...

...to protest the shrinking size of salted peanut packages handed out on airplanes.