Interview with TJ Johnson

author : Ross Reynolds | T. J. Johnson topic : Olympia City Council | Port Militarization Resistance | Port of Tacoma | Interview

KUOW 99.4FM -- Ross Reynolds Interview with TJ Johnson

It will take a diversity of tactics and a broad cross-section of the community to end the US occupation of Iraq

I'm Ross Reynolds in for Monday, March 12, 2007. It's The Conversation.

We begin at the Port of Tacoma, where dozens of anti-war activists have been trying to block the shipment of military vehicles to Iraq. It got a little wild late Friday night.

(Sounds of protesters singing "Give Peace a Chance," screams, gas and projectiles being fired.)

That's a recording off YouTube of police firing rubber bullets and tear gas on anti-war protesters at the Port of Tacoma early Saturday morning. Three people were arrested. Another twenty-three people were arrested at the Port of Tacoma yesterday, but it was more peaceful, with the civil disobedience coordinated with police. The police have banned backpacks from the demonstration. Some protesters wore backpacks with copies of the US Constitution inside. Others crossed over a police barricade. They were arrested, and charged with misdemeanors. TJ Johnson was one of those arrested yesterday at the Port of Tacoma anti-war protest. He is a member of the Olympia City Council. TJ Johnson got out of jail at 3 am this morning. I spoke to him early today and asked him what they were trying to accomplish.

TJ johnson: We are trying to end our community's participation in what we consider an illegal and immoral war. Many of us believe that we've exhausted every legal means available to us to petition our elected representatives to cease the hostilities, and the only thing left to us is to move forward with nonviolent civil disobedience.

Reynolds: So you're trying to block the shipment of Stryker vehicles to Iraq?

Johnson: Yes, we are, because we want to support the troops.

Reynolds: Won't the soldiers be in danger, though, if they don't have the supplies they need?

Johnson: The soldiers are here at Fort Lewis. They're not going to be shipped out without their supplies. Again, we're trying to keep them here at home, because that's the best way to support the troops.

Reynolds: It looked a little wild, at least from what the TV cameras showed on Friday night with rubber bullets being shot at demonstrators. What was it like yesterday?

Johnson: Yesterday was a very calm, peaceful event. It was deliberately so. It was done in daylight hours with full transparency, with announcing our intentions completely in advance to the police at the scene, and negotiating the arrest to ensure that neither the police nor the protesters were hurt in the process of arrest.

Reynolds: Why did things get out of hand on Friday?

Johnson: Well, I was there Friday night, but left prior to the time things got out of hand, but I think people need to look at the videos that have been posted on YouTube about that event. My analysis of that, and having talked to people on the scene, is that they were sitting down singing peacefully, in the street, when the riot police from various departments launched tear gas canisters and began rapid-spraying rubber bullets into the crowd. The video shows that there was clearly no provocation from the demonstrators before the police overreacted.

Reynolds: Do you think the demonstrations are past those kinds of confrontations? Do you have an agreement now with police on how you'll proceed into the future, so you don't get tear gassed and have rubber bullets shot at you?

Johnson: Well, I don't know that, because this movement is very broad and growing daily, so there are some people, such as those who were arrested yesterday including myself, who want to approach this in a peaceful, nonviolent way. I believe there are those that feel that direct confrontation is more in their interest. I think, frankly, that it's important to remember that the police are not our enemies, the troops are not our enemies. The enemy is the war.

Reynolds: How is that going to work, though, TJ? Remember up here in Seattle when most of the people during the WTO were demonstrating peacefully and there was a small group that was seeking confrontation with the police, and that sort of characterized the entire action. How will you, who would rather keep it low-key and peaceful, be able to do that when you've got other segments who would like to have more confrontation?

Johnson: Well, frankly, I don't know whether we can, Ross. As I said, this is a diverse movement, and some people have chosen more confrontational tactics, and I don't believe that there's really any way to stop them. And frankly, I think that a diversity of tactics just reinforces the message that it is a large cross-section of this state, this community and this country that are now opposed to this occupation in Iraq. So, people will do what they're going to do, and I think people opposing these shipments will act in the way that their conscience calls them, whatever that may be.

Reynolds: How long will the protests go on for, TJ?

Johnson: The protests will continue until the ship leaves Commencement Bay which we expect could be as soon as tomorrow. But once the ship is gone, the campaign is not over. It is our intention to shut down all military shipments to the war in Iraq through the Port of Olympia and now through the Port of Tacoma, but our campaign continues, even after this ship sails.

Reynolds: That's Olympia City Council member TJ Johnson. I spoke with him this morning. He is one of twenty-three people arrested yesterday at the Port of Tacoma anti-war protest which is ongoing. This is The Conversation.