City prosecutors learn the difference between a pedestrian on a sidewalk and a vehicle in traffic

by Mark Jensen

On July 18, a Tacoma judge dismissed thirteen cases stemming from last March's antiwar protests on the grounds that the statute under which defendants were charged was inapplicable. Tacoma Municipal Court Judge Pro Tem Karl D. Haugh's ruling dropped to ten the number of still unresolved cases stemming from March 2007 Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) protests during which police made a total of thirty-seven arrests.

Port of Tacoma, March 11, 2007. Police in full riot gear prepare to load into a bus dangerous offenders who would be charged with, among other things, violating traffic laws by wearing backpacks on a public sidewalk. No doubt the riot gear came in handy, if only to assist the police in attaining the proper mindset to enforce unlawful orders.

Photo by Carrie Lybecker

Five of the 23 activists arrested at the Port of Tacoma on March 11, 2007. From left to right: TJ Johnson, Dennis "Tenzing" Dutton, Patrick Edelbacher, Somerset Fetter (kneeling), and Phan Nguyen. With the exception of Johnson, all were charged with violating traffic laws, even though their arrests had nothing to do with traffic. No charges were filed against Johnson.

We will be there in our ports, our streets, in our media, our jails, our courtrooms, and everywhere else they dare commit violence in our name

[Speech delivered by TJ Johnson at the March 24 Olympia peace rally]

This week we mourn the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, an illegal and immoral act of aggression that many Americans now understand to be the greatest foreign policy blunder in US history. As we reflect on the past four years, it is also important to remember that the drumbeats of war began long before March 2003. In fact, they started just five hours after the terrorist . . .

Olympia City Councilman TJ Johnson climbs over a police barrier -- an act of civil resistance to shipments of military equipment to Iraq through the Port of Tacoma, March 11. He was attempting to deliver a Citizen's Injunction to halt military shipments through the port. (Photo by Carrie Lybecker)

Molly Gibbs read David Krieger's poem "Worse Than the War" just prior to crossing a police barrier at the Port of Tacoma, March 11. Along with 14 others, she was attempting to deliver a Citizen's Injunction to stop military shipments through the port. (Photo by Carrie Lybecker)

by Mark Jensen

tacoma, washington -- I arrived late at the arraignment of the "Tacoma 23" on Thursday afternoon, Mar. 15, but I was in luck. There was one seat left in the completely packed courtroom. I squeezed in next to Matt Batcheldor, a reporter from the Olympian, the only mainstream media journalist there.

At the Port of Tacoma, Phan Nguyen speaks to the protections provided in the First and Fourth Amendments to the US Constitution, which allow him to carry a backpack (or in his case, a "frontpack") at a peaceful demonstration. His sign reads "Keep the 4th Brigade home." (Photo by Carrie Lybecker)

by Wally Cuddeford

The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, a Stryker unit based out of Fort Lewis, was originally set to deploy in May of this year.1 However, George Bush's "Surge" strategy moved their deployment date up two months. [1] Because of this, the unit had to skip crucial desert training at Fort Irwin in California, and train only here at Fort Lewis. [2]

At the Port of Tacoma before protesters were confined to stand behing the white fog line, March 3. (Photo by Robert Whitlock)

A row of riot cops stands between the soldiers of the 4th Brigade bringing Strykers into the port, and the peaceful demonstrators who want to keep them home. Many of the troops flashed smiles, nods, peace signs and thumbs-up as they passed. (Photo by Zoltan Grossman)

Police using teargas on peaceful protesters at the Port of Tacoma -- still-image rendered from footage taken by Joseph La Sac on the evening Friday, March 10. La Sac is the University of Puget Sound student whose video camera was running as it was confiscated by police on March 6. The story received extensive media attention after he posted the video on YouTube and is the subject of an internal investigation with the Tacoma Police Department.

Amanda Askea, Rosie Math, and Brooke Stepp with copies of the Citizen's Injunction to Halt the Shipment of Military Material to Iraq. They were arrested for crossing a police barrier in an attempt to deliver the injunction at the Port of Tacoma, March 11. (Photo by Gail Johnson)

Olympia City Councilman TJ Johnson arrested for crossing a police barrier as he delivered a Citizen's Injunction to Halt the Shipment of Military Material to Iraq -- Port of Tacoma, March 11. (Photo by Gail Johnson)

From left to right are Karen Weill, Caitlin Esworthy, Jeff Berryhill, and Wally Cuddeford, following the arraignment of the latter three in Pierce County Superior Court on March 6, 2007. The three had been attacked by riot police while peacefully demonstrating against George Bush's troop "surge" at the Port of Tacoma on March 4, and then ironically charged with felony assault. The charges were summarily dropped at the start of the arraignment.