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15 Arrested during Anti-War protests at Port of Tacoma and Fort Lewis Army

author: PMR
Aug 04, 2008 21:58

Anti-war demonstrations are ongoing at Port of Tacoma since Wednesday, July 30th. Protesters and observers have gathered at the port, despite harassment by law enforcement such as the demanding identification, arbitrary detention of pedestrians and use of physical violence. Six arrests have taken place at Port of Tacoma, all of which are unjustified and used to intimidate protesters from expressing their first amendment rights to oppose the occupation of Iraq.

With the return of the equipment of the 4th Stryker Brigade 2nd Combat Infantry Division at the Port of Tacoma, Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) and other groups continue to protest the use of civilian ports in the Northwest for the revolving door policy of redeployment. Regionally, the port demilitarization movement, comprising of PMR and others has brought out hundred of protesters from all over the northwest and has resulted in over 150 arrests in the last 2-1/2 years. It is the largest and longest sustained direct action movement in the Northwest in opposition to the US war and occupation of Iraq – a war that has resulted in the death of over 4,000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousand of Iraqi civilians.

Anti-war demonstrations are ongoing at Port of Tacoma since Wednesday, July 30th. Protesters and observers have gathered at the port, despite harassment by law enforcement such as the demanding identification, arbitrary detention of pedestrians and use of physical violence. Six arrests have taken place at Port of Tacoma, all of which are unjustified and used to intimidate protesters from expressing their first amendment rights to oppose the occupation of Iraq.

By Friday Night/Early Saturday morning protests moved to the gates of Fort Lewis Military Base. A total of nine arrests have taken place at various exits off of I-5, all in an attempt to stop the return of Strykers to the base to ready for redeployment. This was the first time that the port demilitarization movement spread to the gates of a northwest army base. Bethel Prescott, a Port Militarization Resistance support and photographer (Freedom Bridge - see photo link -  http://olypmr.org/gallery.html), “The war is against international law and immoral. It has to be stopped and that is what we are doing. One of these ways is to do what we can to stop the machinery.” On Saturday, three protesters were arrested at Exit 120.

Protests will continue through the duration of the use of the Port of Tacoma to transfer military equipment used in the illegal occupation of Iraq. A Unity Rally to Demilitarize Our Ports and Communities is scheduled for Saturday, August 9th at 4pm at Schuster Parkway. More information can be found at  http://www.olypmr.org .

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