I think that the Tacoma police, in conjunction with over four other regional policing forces, approached their being hired by the Port of Tacoma to ensure the safe shipment of deadly Stryker vehicles and support vehicles as a way to maintain order. The idea that repressing citizen’s right to assemble, harassing and injuring nonviolent demonstrators, and illegally videotaping protestors are acceptable tactics to maintain order and even that they are strategic is beyond me. I don’t think that any police force should ever be above the law and there is no excuse for these transgressions.
Additionally, they did not fulfill their duty to communicate properly, which became particularly consequential when a number of people sitting peacefully were tear-gassed. They would occasionally send a representative to dictate with whatever they deemed to be the appropriate spokesperson of the protestors “the ground rules.” Sergeant Barrett claimed that he wanted to have a “nice event” yet he was one of the officers in charge the night Wally was tased.
One of the ways the police defend their actions is about deliberately lying, particularly to media. One example of this is documented on YouTube in which a detective told a local news program that protesters threw wooden barricades at the police which are what provoked the tear gassing on Friday the 9th. In an interview caught on independent media, two activists challenge him to substantiate those claims, which he was not able to. Another example is the fact that there was a verbal rumor in the police unit on duty the night after Wally, Jeff, and I were arrested that we had attacked, charged, grabbed at and threw gravel during our arrests. If that had actually happened perhaps our third degree assault felony charges would have some basis. Unfortunately, our charges were dropped immediately and as of yet no cause report has been filed to explain the Tacoma police’s arrest and charging of us.
You can see a video of the police comments to the media and the very clear evidence that they were lying at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=z-w7g_8ZCYU
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