Ramy Khalil, a member of the Bellingham branch of Socialist Alternative (Tacoma and Seattle members were also present) gave the first speech over a bullhorn detailing the atrocities that have been committed in the war, and the utter futility of the U.S. led occupation. He pointed out that 80% of the country is already controlled by the Taliban, religious fundamentalists, and warlords. The farce played out by the corrupt and warlord laden Karzai regime continues to lose any hint of legitimacy, and the lives of the civilian population are ravaged day-in-and-day-out without any material benefits accruing from the presence of the imperialist occupying forces. Ramy was followed by another Bellingham member, Lindsay Worley and then three Olympia members spoke. Ben Gallup and Griffin Buell delivered their prepared remarks, and I read a portion of the speech against World War I that got Socialist Party presidential candidate Eugene Debs thrown in prison for 2 years in 1919.

All this time we stood practically on the doorstep of The Olympian, but no reporters came to talk to us, no photographers snapped pictures. This is just one more example of the mainstream media ignoring the anti-war movement that represents the views of the majority of the American people, 58% according to an AP-GfK Poll (10/5/09). Just after we saw The Olympian’s photographer enter the building, without any acknowledgement of our presence, it was democratically decided that we, as a group, would enter The Olympian and demand to see the editor, and get at least one story about the movement in the paper.

About 30 of us then filed into the lobby. The receptionist, obviously jarred, told us that we would have to wait, as she was serving a customer. She frantically called the editor, saying: “there are fifty people out here Mike, you’ve got to come out here.” But the answer was no, we’d have to go. We politely refused and told her we would just have to wait. Two more times she called someone in the back, and two more times she informed us that no one would come out and talk to us. Finally, she scurried out of sight, and finally the editor, Jerry Wakefield, came out to meet with us. After we refused to name a leader to go talk to him alone, we told him our position. We told him that media outlets such as The Olympian had an obligation to report on the majority of American’s that oppose the war, to which he scoffed “Yeah, [they oppose the war] for the moment.” As if the opposition were too transitory to be reported on by the daily newspaper.

Obviously nervous in the face of 30 people, he acquiesced and sent a reporter, Rolfe Boone, out to talk with us. As the photographer now snapped away, at least eight or nine people voiced their positions during the 45-minute meeting that took place, touching on a range of issues. We thanked Rolfe, and then prepared for the march. Chanting, and pumped, we marched down State Ave. and back up 4th Ave, taking up one lane of traffic. Feeling we had made our point, we deposited the signs into a truck and departed, as five police cars lined up near us.

The protest had gone off without any major problems, and without interference from the police. Or so we thought. Just as I was leaving, I waved goodbye to Forrest Student and Katie O., two friends of Socialist Alternative that took part in the protest. Minutes after I drove away, the police swarmed on Forrest and Katie, who are known to the Olympian Police Force due to their history as dedicated activists. They had waited for the group to disperse to pounce on their prey. Officer Sean Lindros arrested Forrest on an older charge, and both he and Katie O. were cited for “pedestrian interference,” also known as jaywalking. Yet both were standing on the sidewalk.

Forrest is a veteran of encounters with the Olympian Police Force, and this was not the first time that he had been targeted. The charge that landed him in jail originated during the Lakefair, a family friendly event put on in Olympia every summer. Just after a dance party took place in which 60 to 70 people danced up 4th, taking over both lanes of traffic, Forrest and a friend broke off from a larger group, pushing a wheel chair that held an amp, laptop and a car battery. Just like on the 10th, the police jumped at the opportunity to pounce, cowardly waiting until their target could be outnumbered.

The noise ordinances in Olympia are such that even a loud car can be in be in violation, giving the police an excuse to harass and/or arrest nearly anyone they please. As Forrest and his friend, Tasha Glen, walked along the sidewalk, about a block from where they would soon be arrested, Forrest saw officer Sean Lindros, across the street, point him out to another police officer and say “Forrest.” Minutes after he had been identified, as the two friends were walking across a crosswalk four police officers came down on them in force. Forrest was cuffed by Lindros, but Tasha was not so lucky. Before being arrested a baton cracked her across the skull. She was later hospitalized for a concussion after she bled from her ear. She was charged with both disturbing the peace (playing music) and resisting arrest (being attacked with a club). Tasha is currently suing the city of Olympia.

No violence was perpetrated upon Forrest, so he only received the lesser charge. According to Forrest, apparently “what you get charged with is proportional to how much force the cops use against you.” For example, during the Port Militarization Resistance movement in November 2007 in Tacoma, as Forrest walked past a police car he was ordered to back away from the vehicle. Before he could do so he was tasered by a police officer through the car’s window. He was subsequently charged with felony assault. Perhaps the way he fell to the ground after being pumped full of electricity seemed threatening to the “assaulted” police officer.

After the December 10th arrest Forrest spent the night in jail. The next day his bail, set at $3,500, well over the normal amount for cases such as this, was collected by a group of friends. Undoubtedly the court set the bail this high in an attempt to keep Forrest locked up. Unfortunately for them, he has now been released. His trial will be held on Friday, December 18.

There is injustice in Forrest’s arrest that goes beyond the “special” treatment he has received. Not only was he guilty, originally, only of obeying traffic laws while playing music, but Forrest, and Katie O. were not in any way responsible for the actions that took place on December 10, the day that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was not centrally involved in the planning process, organizing effort, or decisions made during the protest. Forrest was a welcome participant in the actions that were taken on that day, though the targeted actions taken on the part of the Olympian police force were in no way proportional to his involvement in the event.

Forrest is clearly the victim of targeted repression, echoing the imprisonment of Debs and so many others that have the courage to stand up for what is right. A legal defense fund is being collected and we will stand in solidarity with our friend when he goes to trial on the 18th.

As Forrest was taken into jail after protesting the increase of soldiers into a war zone, Barack Obama, the commander-in-chief of the United States, was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize. Where the Bush regime made us feel that someone, somewhere in his administration, had to get the Orwellian jokes that were presented to us day in and day out, now, as the Democrat that preached “hope” and “change” escalates the war in Afghanistan for the second time, we are actually supposed to accept that WAR=PEACE. Again and again they try to silence our protestations to the crimes perpetrated by the ruling class, but as long as people like Forrest refuse to acquiesce, the voice of the people will ever resonate through the streets, as it did on December 10.