Groups cancel plans to enter closed Capitol building in Olympia when session convenes
Organizers say they have canceled plans to protest and attempt to enter the closed Washington state Legislative Building starting Sunday, the day before session begins.
They said the decision was prompted by events Wednesday, when pro-President Trump demonstrators forced their way onto the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion and a mob of his supporters stormed the nation’s Capitol.
Washington Three Percent — a far-right paramilitary group whose name originates from the debunked notion that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War — sent an email blast Thursday evening announcing the “Legislative Lock Out” event was canceled.
The group planned to support an event organized in protest to the Legislature’s decision to meet in the closed building, calling it unconstitutional. Tyler Miller, who organized that event in affiliation with a group called “Liberty, At All Hazards” announced he was canceling it Wednesday, as The Seattle Times first reported.
The plan, Miller said, was to station people at entrances and get access to the building by following authorized individuals inside, with the idea that there would “be enough of us to overwhelm whatever safeguards were designed to keep us out.” The event was not intended to include violent action, but Miller acknowledged that it sounds like wishful thinking for that plan not to lead to conflict.
“The general idea for this is to make the legislative session as uncomfortable as possible until they restore public access as required by the Constitution,” an earlier email blast from the Washington Three Percent read. Demonstrators would occupy galleries in chambers where the public can normally observe, and exit at each day’s end, according to the email.
It was planned to run until public access was restored, according to the Facebook event. Miller said he thought people could stay non-violent, but that with bad actors it could “easily spiral out of control.”
Both Miller and Matt Marshall, Washington Three Percent founder and Eatonville School Board member, voiced the same reasoning for calling off the plans: That they felt legislators weren’t listening to their message anyway, and it was too risky in light of Wednesday’s events.
“After seeing yesterday’s events in Olympia and nationally, we’re just not going to do it,” Marshall said, reached by phone. “There’s too much risk and not enough benefit.”
Miller said he always knew what the event could turn into, but Wednesday’s events “cemented” in his mind “the certainty of people to try it.”
Marshall said he’ll be staying home, but Miller said he’ll go to other planned events that he called more “traditional,” with speakers. Over the course of the 105-day session, though, Miller said he may decide to revisit his plan.
When asked, Miller acknowledged that the momentum has already been established and people are likely to show up, even with their messages of cancellation out there. Over 120 people responded that they were going to the event on Facebook, and over 650 counted themselves interested.
He believes there’s a “high likelihood” that people will try to get into the Legislative Building. But he thinks they would’ve shown up to cause problems under his “Hazardous Liberty” banner or not. And he puts some of the blame for that on the Legislature, which he sees as unwilling to listen to their concerns.
“It’s my conviction that the legislative leadership shares as much responsibility as I do for anything that may happen,” Miller said.
The Legislature plans for a majority of members from each chamber to meet opening day to vote on changes to the rules to allow them to conduct business remotely. Then, the state Senate will take on a hybrid format with some senators in-person and some remote during floor sessions. The House will be remote aside from a handful of those in leadership roles on the floor. All committee meetings will be conducted remotely. Anyone can watch activity via TVW, on TV or online.
Facing questions from reporters Thursday, legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle defended their plan to open the session next Monday in person. They said at the Associated Press legislative preview that the state Constitution requires it, gathering in the Legislative Building is the safest option, and that they need to continue their work despite any efforts to intimidate.
Gov. Jay Inslee said he was planning to meet with Washington State Patrol and Washington National Guard leadership Thursday and would discuss whether to call on the National Guard next week.
“We are a country that believes in law and order,” Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, said of the Legislature’s plan. “We have to be able to do our business and not be intimidated and scared because people are going to show up.
“I do want everyone to be safe. I think...having individuals injured or even die is unacceptable. But we have to be able to manage this crisis as a democracy.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Groups cancel plans to enter closed Capitol building in Olympia when session convenes."
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