Police arrest three during protest over Iraq-bound Army equipment

TACOMA — Police arrested three people for investigation of third-degree assault this morning as they protested the shipment of Iraq-bound Army equipment through the Port of Tacoma.

The three were each being held on $10,000 bail at the Pierce County Jail, where they were booked shortly after 3 a.m., according to jail records. The protest involved several dozen people, participants said, and concerned the shipment of Stryker vehicles and other equipment from Fort Lewis.

Zoltan Grossman, a geography professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia who was observing the protest, said he didn't know what prompted the arrests. "There were no rocks, no weapons. People were not carrying anything but signs," Grossman said. "We were on public space, on gravel, and there was a white line that police had told us not to cross. I didn't see any of the protesters cross that line."

Fort Lewis said in a news release the vehicles are being moved in groups of about 25 vehicles in non-peak hours, under escort of military and local police, in support of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division's upcoming deployment. The protesters accused the Army of moving the equipment when the fewest people would notice.

"They're sneaking in under cover of darkness because they know how unpopular these are," said T.J. Johnson, an Olympia city councilman and one of the protest leaders.

The protesters planned to rally on an Interstate 5 overpass later today to draw attention to the shipments.

Last May, hundreds of protesters objected to similar shipments at the Port of Olympia. Police pepper-sprayed some protesters who pulled down a port gate, and about three dozen people were arrested over several days.