Mace discharged?

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Mace discharged?

Submitted by Rick on Mon, 05/29/2006 - 9:12pm.

Uh...who exactly did the "discharging?" From Protesters at port to meet military ship - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington:

OLYMPIA - A military ship that pulled into port tonight to take equipment to Iraq was greeted by about 70 protestors who had been waiting its arrival.

The group lined the port plaza and the floating dock, waving signs that read “No Iraq War” and “U.S. Troops are worth more than $3.25 a gallon.” At least one person used a blowhorn to shout to the ship “Get out of our waters.”

There are reports that mace or pepper spray was discharged. Thurston County dispatchers called for medic units to respond to about a dozen people who had a reaction to the spray.

Update -- from Gar Lipow on omjp:

... protesters shaking the port fence were pepper sprayed this evening. The port police or Olympia police gave no warning; told them to stop shaking the fence after pepper spraying. They sprayed heavily too. I was tired out from other activities and was walking away at the time it happened and felt it from at least 50 yards away. I can only imagine what it was like close.

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tsk tsk tsk. whoever wrote

Submitted by Norm on Mon, 05/29/2006 - 9:36pm.

tsk tsk tsk. whoever wrote that was fibbing, they were warned numerous times to get off the fence or be sprayed. Not only that, you could see the deputy walking up to the fence with a big spray can, I mean c'mon, gee I wonder what that is? Also, it looked like it was TCSO the first time or two, Oly police gave a burst also, but there were 5 of them and they were on your side of the fence. Y'all should have seen that one coming....really. As I left I think TCSO or coast guard ( didn't look like any oly cops behind the fence ) shot another burst off and then threatened to spray again. I'm not sure if they meant oc, or they were talking fire hoses.

Have some respect

Submitted by protestyou on Mon, 05/29/2006 - 10:33pm.

Don't mess with the fence, no mace will be discharged.

Don't fence me in

Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Mon, 05/29/2006 - 10:56pm.

I, for one, will welcome our sacred fence overlords. Good grief, now the conservatives what to tell the protesters how to conduct a protest.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."

Conservative my foot

Submitted by protestyou on Mon, 05/29/2006 - 11:54pm.

Bouncing around on a fence is just not a means to an end. It show that you're a monkey that doesn't know a better way to convey what you feel strongly about.

And that better way is....

Submitted by rainy gray on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 12:27am.

...what, exactly? How do we stop the war while behaving like good little boys and girls?

so you think it's totally

Submitted by yanna on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 12:40am.

so you think it's totally cool for someone to mace someone in the face for shaking a fence??

Are you asking me that?

Submitted by rainy gray on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 1:15am.

I think the way these threads are stacking up must be misleading. I was there tonight, I saw people getting sprayed, and I was truly shocked. It was such a violent response to a nonviolent act. I saw a very gentle-spirited woman I know get sprayed. I saw a man in a wheelchair get sprayed. All they were doing was banging on the fence. In fact, I think the woman I know was just standing near the fence when the spraying happened. I didn't hear any warning, although I admit I was keeping my distance and might not have heard it. If there was a warning, it should have been louder. It seemed that a lot of people were hurt, and some seemed to be hurt pretty bad. I ended up giving my hoodie to a guy who needed to be covered up because he seemed to be in shock -- shivering so violently I was afraid he was on the verge of convulsing. It seemed that a lot of people were affected in the eyes, and there didn't seem to be enough water around for everyone who needed to squirt their eyes. All because people were shaking the chain link fence, protesting a war that continues despite efforts through "the proper venues." I am very distubed by what I saw tonight. I don't think it's cool at all to spray protesters.

Nope, that was to the user

Submitted by yanna on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 1:34am.

Nope, that was to the user protestyou. I wasn't there but I heard about what happened from a friend who was and got sprayed pretty badly. She said she was blinded for a while and was in a lot of pain. Not fucking cool.

i almost decided not to

Submitted by maria on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 1:27am.

i almost decided not to post here since the conservative hate mongerers have infiltrated olyblog with their moronic Olympian-esque comments and i really dont feel like reading their baloney. so i will just skip over all of that and confirm use of pepper spray tonight. it was horrible. There were many people there that were not even close to the fence and still suffered the effects of the spray. Note to facist police:pepper spray travels in the wind! What's that? They know that and don't care because they took an oath swearing to uphold America's right to conduct illegal and immoral war? Oh. Okay. Come to the Port! Stand up together and support one another in the fight against the Occupation. You may not agree with someone elses tactics, but you should stand in solidarity with them anyway. All who are against this war and the militarization of OUR Port are ON THE SAME SIDE.

Maria said :i almost decided

Submitted by NWarty on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 7:43am.

Maria said :i almost decided not to post here since the conservative hate mongerers have infiltrated olyblog with their moronic Olympian-esque comments and i really dont feel like reading their baloney.

Some of them are hatemongers yes, some are not. But the fact remains that this blog has attracted a lot of attention in recent days. What once has a very liberal slant (this blog) now has differing opinions and that is good for this community.

What do I make of the peppering? If you're in it with folks who act like this, maybe you should reevaluate who you'd like to stand shoulder to shoulder with. The people trying to tear a section of the fence were told repeatedly to back off or face the consequences. What is so difficult to understand here? Trying to destroy property = Getting peppered in the face. Pretty simple to me...but I'm just a county boy from Georgia.

Sauce for the gander

Submitted by rainy gray on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 7:56am.

Maria, I think this type of comment is easy to ignore! Here's a guy criticizing peace activists for "trying to destroy property" when what's being protested is the massive, organized, U.S.-citizen-funded destruction of property (and people) in another country, in our name. And I'm sure we'll hear it again from these conservative posters: fence-shaking protesters bad, country-destroying military good. How convincing.

Word.

Submitted by yanna on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 9:24am.

Word.

"I say yes, you say no. You say goodbye and I say hello"

Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 10:05am.

Differing opinions are good, truth and originality are even better. When you strip every thing away, ask your self how do YOU feel. Question what you are told before parroting it on a blog. We are all manipulated by all forms of news. Ask your self "am I be manipulated?" Fewer and fewer are supporting the President on this war. I suspect they have asked themselves that question and have started to think with their own minds and hearts. I really enjoy conversing with freethinking conservatives. Those that have arrived at their conclusions out of their own minds based on the information available to them. There is nothing wrong about having a position on an issue, pro or con. What would be wrong would be to take your orders from the conservative playbook and bring that nonsense here. Most people can see right through it and the conservatives make themselves look like fools. It is probably embarassing to the true conservatives that think with their minds and hearts. I can find common ground with a true conservative, I'll have no truck with conservative shills, lackeys, trolls, baiters, and flamers.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."

RG and Maria,The ends

Submitted by NWarty on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 9:52am.

RG and Maria,

The ends justify the means? Seems to me that some of these posts sound like "well if the evil military is blowing up innocents, then we have every right to tear down a fence, disobey laws and create diruption because we don't agree with this illegal war". Seems an awful lot like pointing the finger and saying "well, he's doing it too so I can do it."

And it seems like a lot of panties around here are getting twisted up because posters here suddenly disagree with you. Good....it makes for a more interesting place if kept in decent context.

Isn't diversity beautiful?

Submitted by Norm on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 10:02am.

Isn't diversity beautiful?

Contributions to OlyBlog...

Submitted by Rick on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 10:02am.

...have actually represented a wide range of philosophical positions. I certainly don't think that The Fire Inside, Olycop, or White Feather would characterize themselves as, how did you put it: "very liberal." Anything but. Olycop and White Feather no longer contribute because their comments got too personal (you're always welcome back guys -- I know you're out there!). I think it must be something about the strong sense of libertarianism that they posses that makes it very difficult to have anyone tell them that they can't say exactly what they think -- no ad hominem attacks, etc., even if it is bad for the community as a whole. But, really, anyone can participate, as long as s/he can focus on the issues and not the person who's communicating them.

"The ends justify the means?

Submitted by Jade on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 10:27am.

"The ends justify the means? Seems to me that some of these posts sound like "well if the evil military is blowing up innocents, then we have every right to tear down a fence, disobey laws and create diruption because we don't agree with this illegal war". Seems an awful lot like pointing the finger and saying "well, he's doing it too so I can do it.""

On the contrary. I think some people here draw a distinction between shaking a fence and war. Call us crazy, but I say there is no comparison. A rattling fence "swaying dangerously"...and...40,000 dead people. You be the judge.
I don't consider killing wrong because it causes a "disruption". I consider it wrong because its killing.Shaking a fence, however, is not killing. So I don't think my position is hypocritical whatsoever.

Jade,What I was referring to

Submitted by NWarty on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 10:39am.

Jade,

What I was referring to was this comment and should have made that more clear:

"...what, exactly? How do we stop the war while behaving like good little boys and girls?

TO ME, this sounds like trying to justify illegal activities because of one person's position on the war isn't working through peaceful and LEGAL means. If this is the type of attitude that is prevelant at these protests then I have no sympathy for those being arrested and/or sprayed even if I agree/disagree with the message.

We seem to be back to the

Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 11:45am.

We seem to be back to the war supporters telling people how to have a proper protest, one in their eyes is acceptable to them and would in no case produce any results. Just be good little children, hold up your signs, maybe sing Kumbaya (though that might be vaguely "French") and most important of all, make sure you don't give trained killers at the peak of physical training any nightmares with your taunts, or offend their families with your desire to bring them from the hell hole they have been exploited into.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."

From today's paper

Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Wed, 06/07/2006 - 10:55pm.

The protesters and their efforts to end military shipments from the Port of Olympia will not be deterred, she said.

“We are not going to confine ourselves to holding hands, singing “Kumbaya,” not as long as our port is used to support war and destruction.

“There will be a next time.”

I thought that sounded vaguely familiar.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."

Don't put words in my mouth.... err, fingers

Submitted by rainy gray on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 2:54pm.

I don't think the ends justifies the means. In fact, I haven't broken any laws in my acts of protest. I can't imagine being violent as a way of expressing my opposition to war. But I do think you, as well as the TCSO, have over-reacted to a bit of fence-shaking. Especially when you consider that we're protesting acts of extreme violence, using superior technology to kill and injure people, many of whom are completely innocent. I would hate having foreign soldiers patrolling my block. I really wouldn't want to hear bombs exploding around my house. I would hate to see my kids' head blown off. But I suppose in THAT case the end justifies the means.

Ed Abbey

Submitted by DrewHendricks on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 5:06pm.

Ed Abbey was once quoted as saying: "If the ends can't justify the means, what can?"

Seriously, people who defend Empire apply a shocking double standard when they use "logic" of this type.

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