Fort Lewis' tactics in combating protests have apparently inspired the rest of the Army to follow the base's lead. A confidential 60-page 2009 manual from the Army Military Police School, posted online by Wikileaks, appears to guide operatives around the Posse Comitatus Act. As a kind of hybrid military/police operation, the Army's Force Protection units can gather "institutional knowledge of threat, physical and social environs, as well as [maintain] long-term relationships with local and federal law enforcement agencies," the manual states.
As an example, the manual cites a scenario that seemed to come right from the Olympia protest, describing the movement of 300 Stryker Brigade vehicles across eight law-enforcement jurisdictions. "The fusion cell [the intel unit of the Force Protection operation] coordinated police information, intelligence and civilian security with over 22 local, federal, and DoD agencies...The coordinated effort gave law enforcement agencies the knowledge to identify and prevent disruptive actions by violent protesters. The operation was considered by Corps leadership to be a watershed event..."
Ana Benaroya
The monitoring, and arrests, of local antiwar demonstrators may have crossed the legal line.
Zoltán Grossman
Blocking Army vehicles at the Port of Olympia in 2007.
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There's no mention that the intel for such a move might have come from a double agent the Fort had placed behind enemy lines. But Hildes thinks the manual confirms some of his suspicions about how deeply involved the Army was with law enforcement. It was such intelligence, he adds, that led to the bizarre arrest of some demonstrators for "future crimes."
In 2007, 41 protesters, mostly women, were gathering and planning a protest on the roadside near a military staging area when they were busted by Olympia police. Police, assuming the group was going to block the convoy, moved in, arrested them all, and bused them to jail for "attempted" disorderly conduct. Hildes and the ACLU filed suit this year against the Army and the City of Olympia for allegedly violating their civil rights. (A similar lawsuit against Tacoma police was filed last September.) Hildes thinks the women were prematurely arrested because Towery had told police what they'd planned to do—peacefully block and protest the war convoy. The Army and police mission was undertaken, says Hildes, because the agencies "did not like the content of the speech involved."
Of course, government agencies routinely investigate and share info about potential terror threats, Hildes allows. But, he argues, the Olympia and Tacoma demonstrators have an established record of nonviolent protests. "When you consider how many agencies are involved in watching and infiltrating—federal, state, county, local—you have more spies than organizers," he says. He hopes to determine the true extent of that involvement by convincing the court to order the agencies and the military to reveal more background documents in the latest civil suit, in which Towery is also a defendant.
It was just such a request that apparently prompted a conclusion to the Chinn case.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Seattle—which was not party to the suit—stepped in late last year and claimed local police and military documents were secret. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kipnis told the federal court that "at least some of the disputed records contain 'Sensitive Security Information'" and their release is restricted. Which records those were, however, had not yet been decided, added Kipnis. But, he said, "We will certainly advise the court immediately when a decision has been reached."
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Bryan didn't intend to wait, however. He ordered the police agencies to produce the records requested by Hildes, and told Kipnis the U.S. might have to do the same "in the interest of justice." Settlement talks quickly began.
Last week, Chinn was still awaiting his check. But he will eventually walk away with about $170,000, before taxes. Still, who won? Though the Grays Harbor charges were dropped, Chinn has a DUI arrest etched on his state driving record. He hopes that won't come up as he continues to look for a job around Olympia, after graduating last year from Evergreen. He's also less active in the protests, which have shifted back to the Port of Tacoma, where turnouts have fallen off.
Tacoma police have been more successful in cordoning off the area, keeping demonstrators at bay. "It's difficult," says Chinn, "to have a protest anymore."
randerson@seattleweekly.com
