Three Arrested in Protest at Olympia’s Artesian Commons Park

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Three people were arrested Saturday — two for allegedly assaulting police — during a protest at downtown Olympia’s Artesian Commons Park.

Protesters occupied the park for about two hours before they were moved out by police, temporarily blocking traffic on Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street.

A 59-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of third-degree felony assault of police officers and booked into the Thurston County Jail. Both were still in custody Sunday, jail information shows.

A third person was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and was taken to the Olympia city jail. Additional information about that person was not available.

The officers were not seriously injured, according to police.

Between 50 and 100 people gathered to protest the city closing the park indefinitely. The city acted in late August because of reported threats to park staff members. Since then people — including groups that advocate for homeless people — have called for it to reopen.

About 1 p.m. Saturday, the group entered the park and began hanging streamers and coloring with chalk, police Lt. Sam Costello said Sunday. They didn’t break down a fence, but moved it because it wasn’t secured at the time, Costello said. The fence now is locked, he said.

Although the park is closed, there is still access to the Artesian well and the bathroom, otherwise known as the Portland Loo.

Costello said the group occupied the park for about 60 to 90 minutes before police arrived to enforce the city’s decision to close it.

Officers used crowd-control devices, such as pepper balls and concussion grenades — sometimes referred to as a “flash bang” — to disperse the crowd, he said. It spilled onto Fourth Avenue at Jefferson Street and that delayed traffic, he said.

The crowd dispersed about 6 p.m. There was no additional attempt to occupy the park overnight or reports of vandalism downtown, Costello said.

Police planned to keep an eye on the park Sunday.

“The park is closed and those who try to enter it are subject to arrest,” he said. “That’s our tool at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Yana Vera, who said she participated in Saturday’s protest, called The Olympian on Sunday to tell her version of the gathering. She estimated the crowd occupied the park for about three hours.

Vera said the park needs to be reopened because it was a community destination for all people, not just the homeless. She defended it as a place where visitors could sit and hang out, or eat or play cards. People who wanted water from the well could sit and drink there, too, she said.

“We just decided this is our park, this is our community,” she said about the protest.