An alleged robbery and an assault on a police officer resulted in two arrests Thursday night and early Friday at Occupy Olympia.
Olympia police responded about 10 p.m. Thursday to a report of a man who had been beaten, knocked to the ground and robbed in the 500 block of Capitol Way, said Olympia Police Lt. Paul Lower. The man was robbed of $2 and a six-pack of beer.
Multiple witnesses sent police in the direction of Occupy Olympia, a protest of about 100 tents in Heritage Park. Police found the suspect, a 25-year-old man, in a tent. He was booked into the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of second-degree robbery, a felony.
About 4 a.m., police responded to the encampment after receiving 911 calls about what “appeared to be a male and female fighting,” Lower said.
When officers confronted a 25-year-old man, he “physically raised his hands up in a fighting stance,” Lower said, and “lunged” at an officer. An officer shocked him with a stun gun, and he was arrested and taken to the Olympia Municipal Jail on suspicion of fourth-degree assault, harassment and resisting arrest.
A posting on the website of Occupy Olympia gives a different version of the event. It says a woman was having a seizure, and authorities were called, but they instead tended to a man “who was showing signs of frustration at having his personal belongings looted.”
The posting also says that officers didn’t listen and didn’t appropriately address the man “before firing their Tasers.” The group also questioned why police responded, given that they were on state property, which is the jurisdiction of the Washington State Patrol.
Lower said Olympia police regularly make what are called “mutual responses” with the State Patrol.
Occupy Olympia started in Sylvester Park on Oct. 15 as a protest in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, a protest of the growing income disparity between the top 1 percent of the population and everyone else. A day later, occupants agreed to move to Heritage Park because it has hardier grass and restrooms.
State officials have tolerated the encampment under the cloak of free speech. But Joyce Turner, director of the state Department of Enterprise Services, asked people to remove their tents three weeks ago.
Campers have refused to leave. The state set no timetable for them to do so and has not enforced removal of the tents. Officials said they don’t want a confrontation.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
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