Let Ralph Nader Debate!

I have made a fair and clear case in my earlier posts that the Olympia police have violated procedures and had they not violated procedures then it probably would have ended peacefully. This means that we have a legitimate right to see them held accountable.

The crowd was a mix of students and outsiders, but they were peacefully demonstrating on behalf of the black male in the back of the squad car. They just finished listening to politically engaging music that talked often of the struggles of black people. Some chanted, others blocked the cop car. Some people would go sit on the hill or talk to their buddies while others came and chanted for a while. The four cops originally there with our officer were chatting with the students. They didn't seem very threatened when I walked up to one of them and tried to talk to him, they had been there for an hour already. They stood there and rolled their eyes, ready to go home to their significant others.

Finally they realized they weren't going to be able to get the students to let the cop car pass very easily. They would be waiting all night for the students to get bored and go home. They had every right to arrest everyone in front of the cop car, but they instead decided it wasn’t worth it. It was a simple fight, no-one was hurt bad, they could find the guy and prosecute later if they wanted. It was a good compromise, which would have eased tensions between students and police.