Activists Successfully Block Port of Olymbia-From SDS

As of noon today, our comrades in Olympia are still holding the port! They
formed human blockades as flatbeds loaded with Strykers attempted to move out,
and forced the trucks back into the port, while allowing trucks carrying
civilian cargo to leave. The military and the port have said that they won't
attempt to move equipment today without police support; thus far, that support
has not been present.


THIS IS HUGE, EVERYONE! We've held the port and blocked equipment repeatedly and
successfully. The blockades still hold, and these actions have raised the bar
for resistance to the Iraq war across the country. We're showing the world
right now that protests, direct actions and civil disobedience do not have to
be merely symbolic; working together, people and communities can stop the war
machine dead in its tracks. This is bigger than any of the past port
militarization resistance actions, because we're succeeding! This equipment was
supposed to be out of the port long ago, and it's still there today, a week
after it was unloaded from the ship.

Below I'm attaching links to a couple of articles and to several video clips.
Before that, though I'd like to ask everyone who was in Olympia at any point
this week or last week to take care of themselves, to make sure that you're
fully recovered physically and psychologically from the events, and to offer up
our house to anyone who needs a place outside of school to decompress, relax, or
process what happened. If anyone is still feeling any effects of the pepper
spray, let me know and I can help you out. We're having dinner at our house
tomorrow for everyone who went, and we can talk then, but I want to make sure
everyone knows that there's support if they need it. For those of us who were
there Saturday morning, there's no reason that anyone should ever have to
experience that. There is no justification for using chemical weapons and
violence to attack non-violent protesters. You did nothing wrong. The way that
the police responded was, despite their statements, not appropriate, not
justified, not "the only alternative," not legal, and not ethical. Pepper spray
is banned in war as a chemical weapon by international convention, if that gives
you an idea of how "acceptable" it is. This is what happens when the state,
military, and corporate apparatus feels threatened by actual resistance.

Solidarity,

Guy

http://www.theolympian.com/570/story/270279.html
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/368506.shtml

Here are some videos from the actions last week:

Speech and rally on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Speech by Phan Nguyen of Olympia Port
Militarization Resistance:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q3hsDZHg71g

SDSers and others form human blockades Wednesday night to block Stryker
vehicles:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SOkn2Fg7R8w

Dozens form human blockade Friday afternoon, successfully forcing two trucks
back inside the port:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iVASp4CGh94

Police unleash pepper spray, batons on peaceful protesters and bystanders
Saturday morning:
https://webmail.lclark.edu/horde/util/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ddgi5ESpueX8&Horde=704e175a31d56ffd224b94626fceea9c

KIRO TV has a pretty good clip about police brutality following a community
meeting Sunday night about it:
http://www.kirotv.com/news/14573082/detail.html

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