‘All Cops Are Bastards’: Black Bloc Riots in Olympia, Washington

Dusti-Demarest-The-Olympian
Dusti Demarest / The Olympian
Lee Stranahan

A riot with over 100 anti-police protesters smashed windows and protested the police in Washington State’s capitol city of Olympia, late Friday. The black-clad protestors carried clubs as they marched near downtown Olympia. They shouted “fuck the police” and said they were protesting “Nazis.”

An early news report from the Olympian said:

The group gathered about 7 p.m. near the Harbor Days vendor tents on Percival Landing then set out up Fourth Avenue about 8 p.m., carrying a banner that read “All Cops are Bastards.” They marched past City Hall, then back to Percival Landing. Some were lighting fireworks; others knocked over trash cans, but passersby picked them up.

At about 9:45 p.m., demonstrators smashed the glass in the door at City Hall. Shortly after, about 15 Olympia Police officers emerged from a police vehicle at City Hall. They were wearing riot gear and carrying night sticks. They urged all bystanders to leave the area.

Video and photos began to appear on Twitter about the rioting:

The riots appear to be a reaction to the recent decision to not prosecute a police officer over a shooting that critics called racist.  As K5 News reported a few days ago:”[Prosecutor] Tunheim said he did not find any evidence that race played a role in the shooting. In addition, he said there was no evidence that either of the men was shot in the back.

The men’s attorney has said Chaplin is currently paralyzed from the waist down. Donald, who is white, encountered the two men, brothers, who are both black, after being called in on a report of an attempt to steal beer from a grocery store by two men carrying skateboards. Police officials have said race was not a factor.

The protests are the latest violent incident surrounding the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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