New charges against Nov. 2007 Port protests

author : WIP News Service

by WIP News Service

On May 15, the City of Olympia filed charges against three local activists for violations alleged during the November 2007 Port of Olympia protests. Twin sisters Katie and Patsy Hutchison and Shyam Khanna are all charged with “Obstructing an Officer.” Khanna has an additional charge of “Resisting Arrest.”

Background on the charges

The three defendants were initially arrested during the protests at the Port of Olympia in November 2007. 66 arrests were made altogether. Some arrests were made against activists performing nonviolent civil resistance against military shipments at the Port of Olympia. Others were arrested while simply standing on the sidewalk. Even more people were assaulted by the police while posing no threat.

Prior to these new charges, the city had only chosen to file charges against the first three arrestees, which were filed in November 2007. Those charges were dropped within weeks. Among the charges dropped was one against Evan Rohar, who had been arrested for trespassing on the fenced Port property, even though he had been allowed in by Port security.

Khanna was also among the three initially charged in November. At the time, he was charged for “Pedestrian Interference” and “Resisting Arrest.” Those charges were dropped in December.

Now, five months later, the city has charged Khanna again for the same alleged incident, but this time for “Obstrucing an Officer” and “Resisting Arrest.”

The Hutchison sisters were arrested seperately on Nov. 10 and booked for alleged “Pedestrian Interference.” Six months later, the city has decided to charge them with “Obstructing an Officer.”

So why now?

Given the duration of time that has passed between the initial arrests and the charges filed, along with pressure from The Olympian, it is clear that the city’s decision to prosecute the three individuals is politically motivated.

In the past months, The Olympian repeatedly emphasized that no one from the November Port protests were being charged, while the Olympian Editorial Board declared that port protesters “must be held accountable for their abhorrent behavior.”

On April 1, 2008, the Olympian Editorial Board issued an opinion piece which stated, “Why hasn’t the city prosecutor’s office filed charges against protesters arrested at the time of the [military] shipments last November?”

On April 30, Olympia City Manager Steve Hall met with the Olympian Editorial Board and told them that the city would determine appropriate charges for the November Port protests within the following two weeks. At the time, he suggested that the charges would involve the cases of nine individuals who were arrested on Plum & Union on November 10, 2007. Hall was quoted as saying, “We know who they are....It’s clear what they did. The other cases are, I guess, not as obvious.” (emphasis added)

Two weeks later, the Olympian Editorial Board published a piece entitled “Lawlessness Will Not Be Condoned.” The piece referred to “escalating violence in the commu-nity,” drawing a link from the November Port protests, to the Dead Prez incident at The Evergreen State College on February 14 & 15, to the recent Olympia May Day inci-dent.

The editorial called on the city to “live up to the message” of prosecuting protesters. It singled out Steve Hall and told him, “The two weeks is up today, so all eyes are on City Hall to see whether law enforcement officers mean what they say: There will be zero tolerance for vandalism and lawlessness.”

The following day, the city issued a press release to The Olympian, stating that it was filing charges against Khanna and the Hutchison sisters. The city had not yet noti-fied the three defendants at that time. In fact, the charges had not yet been completely processed when the city informed The Olympian.

Additionally, the three defendants were not arrested on Plum & Union. Their cases were among the ones that Hall had previously stated were “not as obvious.” Along with the puzzling charges, many local activists have been left wondering why Khanna and the Hutchisons were specifcally chosen to be the scapegoats for the supposed “escalating violence in the community.”

Arraignment

Arraignment for the three defendants commenced on May 28. Just prior to the arraignment, city prosecutor Kalo Wilcox offered a plea bargain for the three, which all three defendants refused. Instead, they plead not guilty to the charges.

Because the three were not being detained, the city was not obligated to offer probable cause during arraignment, leaving the defendants and the local activist commu-nity to remain puzzled about the nature of the misdemeanor charges against the three.

Additionally, Khanna’s attorney, Larry Hildes, indicated that he would be filing a motion to dismiss based on double jeopardy and a motion against the breech of speedy trial, stemming from the initial charges against Khanna, which were dropped in December and revisited in May.

Following arraignment, another arrest

After the morning of his arraignment on May 28, Khanna was tailed by the Olympia police. Khanna was walking alone to the Intercity Transit station when he was stopped by Officer O’Neill at the corner of 4th and Adams.

According to Hildes, O’Neill stopped Khanna and demanded his ID. Khanna refused, stating that he was not obligated to. O’Neill then put Khanna under arrest and slammed Khanna against the police car. According to Hildes, O’Neill placed his hand down Khanna’s pants and grabbed his genitals. When Khanna attempted to use his cell phone to call Hildes, O’Neill snatched the phone away from Khanna.

The phone was later found and eventually recovered by Khanna’s friends, who only then learned of Khanna’s arrest.

Khanna was held in the Thurston County jail until the following day, where he was released on personal recognizance. He is being charged with third degree felony as-sault of an officer, because O’Neill claims that Khanna had spit on him during the May Day incident downtown.

Khanna can be seen on the Olympian website in a photograph that was taken during May Day. He is pictured being shot with a pepper ball round in the groin area at close range by an OPD officer.

It remains to be seen what the city does next in its attempt to appease the manufactured public perceptions of the evil activist scourge and their reported “escalating vio-lence in the community.”