Police Step Up the Harassment of Olympia Activists
author: Laury Kenton
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Activists in Olympia are reporting police harassment, both at and away from the vicinity of protests. In the latest incident, Jeff Berryhill and his friend Mitch were arrested on Thursday, July 26th.
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Jeff Berryhill, a respected member of the Olympia activist community, was confronted by four police officers while hanging out in downtown Olympia on July 26th. Saying that he "fit the profile" of someone who had broken into a house somewhere in Olympia, the officers became very belligerent, trying to intimidate him. Jeff resisted the provocation, and left. Hours later, the police came to house and began the harassment again, this time the confrontation ended in two arrests: Jeff and his friend Mitch.
The police have had a string of humiliating failures in their attempts to shut down the Port Militarization Resistance movement in Western Washington. The trumped up charges from port demonstrations have uniformly been thrown out of court. It now appears that Olympia police are trying a new tactic -- singling out activists outside of the vicinity of a protest, in public places and at their homes.
Although in his early twenties, Jeff has a high profile in the activist community. The Olympia Police Department is familiar with Jeff through his Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) work. Jeff was one of the Olympia 22, protesters who were arrested in May of 2006 during the ten day action that ended the shipment of Army equipment to Iraq from the Port of Olympia. With Olympia unavailable, the military moved its shipments to the Port of Tacoma. Jeff was active in the Tacoma Port Militarization protests in March. In various police reports and police videos from the Port of Tacoma actions, Jeff is often named as one of the "protest leaders " of the PMR. After the Tacoma actions, the military moved its shipments to Aberdeen, a small town 40 miles from Olympia. When the PMR followed, the Aberdeen police addressed Jeff directly by name.
The PMR has initiated various direct actions against the shipment of armored combat equipment through civilian ports in Western Washington. The purpose of these non-violent actions has been to prevent or delay military equipment from reaching Iraq, with the intermediate goal of stopping the deployment of the Stryker brigade and the ultimate goal of stopping the war in Iraq.
The Olympia 22 case ended in mistrial on June 12th when information about surveillance on activists surfaced. Administrators of local activist email lists determined that both  edmund.bob@gmail.com and jaamt004@gmail.com were government agents that were lurking in numerous local activist lists. The case was tainted by the use of police and Homeland Security informants. By the time the trial ended, the court proceedings had lasted over a year.
During the PMR's demonstrations against military shipments out of Tacoma, police aggressively targeted protesters, using the tear gas canisters as artillery. The Tacoma police aimed the canisters directly at the demonstrators and their cars. Over and over, the police in full riot gear entered the designated protest zone, trying to instigate a violent confrontation.
Some activists were singled out by the police. Jeff, Caitlin Esworthy, and Wally Cuddeford were pulled out of the crowd. Wally was tasered three times and dragged across the pavement. Jeff was shot by a rubber bullet in the leg at point blank range. All three were arrested during the Port of Tacoma resistance. Booked for 3rd degree felony assault at the Pierce County Jail, the prosecutor and the judge decided to drop all charges. At the time, their attorney told the press that they were going to file a civil suit against the Tacoma Police Department. After the case was dismissed, Jeff appeared with Caitlin on Hannity & Colmes  http://www.omjp.org/TacomaProtestH&C.wmv on March 8th.
Earlier this week, a Tacoma municipal court judge dismissed charges against 13 other protesters arrested in March. Jeff, Caitland, Wally, and other activists still face additional charges from the Port of Tacoma protest. Attorney Lawrence A. Hildes of Bellingham, who represents many of the defendants, has questioned whether city of Tacoma's belated decision to prosecute some of these cases may be retaliatory.
Now facing a new set of charges, Jeff and Mitch were originally scheduled for arraignment at the Olympia Municipal Court on July 30th at 8:30 am. The hearing was rescheduled for August 8th (Jeff's 23rd birthday) at 9 a.m.
Activists plan to stage an anti-police rally Tuesday, July 31st, between 4-7 p.m. at the corner of Plum and Union, near City Hall. After the demonstration, activists will attend the Olympia City Council's meeting to tell the Council what they think of Olympia policing.
For additional insight into the arrest and the possible motivation behind it, read: http://www.seattle.indymedia.org/en/2007/07/260847.shtml
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