Port Militarization Resistance

While attempts are made to appeal to local governing bodies to cease military shipments, many PMR organizers and port action participants believe these avenues have largely been exhausted.

Police responded by firing wooden pellets and concussion grenades at protesters and longshore workers alike, sending several people to the hospital.

On the night of November 18, individuals unaffiliated with OMJP gathered around the port fence, cutting a large hole in it, prompting heightened security measures.

[8][9] Some witnesses have claimed this breach in security prompted the USNS Cape Intrepid to leave early and without all its intended cargo, while the military maintains there was no disruption to its operations.

[11] Contracted vessels continued to ship equipment and munitions to Iraq through the Port of Olympia a few more times over the next several months.

From May 22, 2006 until May 31, 2006, equipment belonging to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Lewis, was convoyed onto the Port of Olympia quay, to be loaded onto the USNS Pomeroy to be delivered to Iraq.

[13] A detour was forced when Olympia police proved unable to move one of the blockade participants, Ultimate Fighting champion Jeff Monson, out of the street.

[14] The second attempt to enter the port quay was successful after Olympia police parted a line of protesters linked with PVC pipes.

This round is cited as being the origin of Port Militarization Resistance, as well as that of the Olympia chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, based at the Evergreen State College.

[2][15] Beginning March 2, 2007, Stryker vehicles and other equipment from the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Lewis, was convoyed onto the grounds of the Port of Tacoma, to be loaded onto the Iraq-bound USNS Soderman.

[22] The first major incident of the Port of Tacoma protests occurred the night of March 4, when three PMR organizers were arrested by police.

[27] The night of Friday, March 9, not long after the USNS Soderman arrived, the next major incident of this round of port protests occurred.

[27] Protesters report that police then shot rubber bullets at them at point blank range and fired tear gas canisters at them as artillery.

The second wave involved 15 people reading a Citizens' Injunction against the war, climbing over police barricades, and being subsequently soft-arrested.

Except for the "Film Is Not a Crime" incident, the city has said it will not investigate individual allegations of misconduct, citing police union contracts.

[41] Although Port Militarization Resistance had earlier said they would not obstruct the return of equipment, the group changed its mind in response to the shipment.

[44] On the evening of November 8, another individual was arrested, this time for trespassing after he had successfully bluffed his way past the Port of Olympia security gate.

[45] Beginning 3:00 pm on Friday, November 9, around 40 protesters established a human blockade of all traffic in and out of the port for the rest of the day and into Saturday.

[47] Protesters began erecting physical barricades on the roads, using fences, signs, garbage bins and cinder blocks, in an attempt to continue the blockade of the port through the night.

Members of PMR attempted to lay flowers at the port gate in honor of the 48 soldiers from the Stryker division who had died during their deployment, but were shoved back with police batons.

In statements posted online, the PLF criticizes PMR for its commitment to non-violence, and for what it claims is its support for "legal wars" like the Invasion of Afghanistan.

[70] PLF members cite decentralization as necessary for the achieving of port militarization resistance goals, while also stressing the need for involved parties to find "basic common ground in which they could operate together".

The judge cited "gross negligence" on the part of the prosecution, in failing to provide new discovery to the defendants in a timely manner before trial.

[86][87] Port Militarization Resistance actions garnered international attention, with coverage from The New York Times, the BBC, Democracy Now!, and Air America Radio.

Among them, 1st Lt Ehren Watada cited the May 2006 PMR protests as inspiration for his decision to publicly refuse to deploy with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

[91][92] On July 22, 2009 a man named John Towery was publicly outed for infiltrating and spying on PMR and anarchists over a period of at least two years.

Towery, who was known by activists as "John Jacob", was active in PMR and frequented the Tacoma anarchist community space Pitch Pipe Infoshop.

PMR activists and anarchists are currently involved in a lawsuit against the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Olympia Police Department, Tacoma Police Department, Thurston County Sheriffs and Pierce County Sheriffs for violating civil rights, civil liberties and the Posse Comitatus Act.

[97][98] One point of criticism levied at PMR during the November 2007 protests at the Port of Olympia involved the participation of children in situations where police were likely to deploy crowd control weapons.

[46][99] Another frequent point of criticism of PMR involved the choice to engage in tactics that are disapproved by more moderate anti-war allies and elected officials.