This just in from the office of city attorney Pete Holmes:

The City Attorney’s Office on Thursday charged six individuals who were arrested in downtown Seattle and held overnight in the King County Jail. Three others who were arrested posted bail overnight and will be considered for charges at a later time.

1) SH, 5/22/91, obstruction of an officer and resisting arrest, at 8th and Howell

2) GH, 4/17/91, obstruction of an officer and resisting arrest, at 400 block of Olive

3) BS, 6/3/85, obstruction of an officer, at 6th and Olive

4) PN, 5/19/68, obstruction of an officer, failure to disperse and resisting arrest, at 9th and Pine

5) JG, 9/21/87, obstructing of an officer, at 8th and Pine

6) DB, 12/30/92, property damage and obstruction of an officer, at Boylston and Pine

Resisting arrest is a simple misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Obstruction of an officer, property damage and failure to disperse are gross misdemeanors, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Someone pointed out in comments below—and it has been my experience as well—that "obstruction" and "assault" of an officer can be thrown around like candy after demonstrations and is often dismissed by courts after tedious and sometimes expensive procedures. (Ever tried to contest a nonsense traffic ticket? Imagine trying to contest a nonsense charge of assaulting an officer if, say, the police charged a demonstration, you fell over, and your foot accidentally touched an officer's boot. That happens.)

On the other side, the National Lawyers Guild has released its own statement:

Yesterday evening, the Seattle Police Department provoked violent confrontations with May Day protestors in downtown Seattle. The Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild condemns the unprovoked use of force, including the use of concussion grenades and chemical agents, against people who merely were exercising their First Amendment right to protest. The confrontation began when armed riot police moved in to break up a protest celebrating International Workers’ Day that was taking place in a public street at the corner of Fourth and Pine. The police then declared a public safety emergency and ordered people who were observing their actions to leave the area or be arrested, thereby insulating police actions from public scrutiny. When the protestors moved through downtown streets, the police set off multiple concussion grenades, causing a series of injuries to those who were struck by the exploding projectiles.

Crimes were certainly committed yesterday: Windows were broken, protesters threw rocks and plastic water bottles at police, police fired "exploding projectiles" directly into large crowds. But "obstructing an officer" is a measly charge that usually boils down to a he-said/she-said between a demonstrator and a cop.

Approximately 100% of the people at yesterday's evening march, including (especially) the journalists and photographers who were jockeying to get into the front lines for that sweet protest photo, could've been charged with obstruction.

It'll be interesting to see whether the police can find and charge any window-smashers and whether any demonstrators file suit for their injuries.

All in all, yesterday's early march for immigration reform was light and smooth and the evening anti-capitalist march was a bit of a clusterfuck. Both sides seemed clumsy and confused, full of passion but lacking tactical elegance.

A two-hour evening march through downtown Olympia capped a daylong May Day demonstration that remained largely peaceful, if sometimes tense.

The evening march consisting of about 100 shouting demonstrators began shortly after 6 p.m. at Percival Landing and looped twice down the middle of Fourth Avenue, with the crowd at one point walking into, and stopping, oncoming traffic down the one-way street. It meandering, somewhat disorganized march ended about 8 p.m. near the artesian well at Jefferson and Fourth.

As of 9 p.m., Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts said there had been no property damage, no one had been injured and there were no arrests, even though some demonstrators had hurled epithets at the police and media who surrounded them block by block.

"There was no property damage which is one of the things we were concerned about, and there was a good plan," Roberts said. "There is a place for peaceful demonstrations in our community. There is not a place for violent ones."

Roberts conceded that the 6 p.m. march clogged traffic through downtown for several hours, as police allowed the demonstrators to march in the street and set up detours to traffic as the marchers meandered from Fourth Avenue to Fifth Avenue, back to Sylvester Park, to the Intercity Transit Station off of State Street, and ending at the artesian well.

The two-hour march involved mostly young people - some on skateboards, some carrying flagpoles - chanting and yelling slogans such as "This is what democracy looks like," and "Whose streets? Our streets." The march reversed direction several times, at one point turning around on Fourth Avenue and walking into oncoming traffic, which was detoured by police officers.

On Capitol Way near the bus station, the demonstrators could not agree on whether to continue to march toward the Capitol Campus, and for about 15 minutes, the marchers halted in the middle of the street, with the large police and media presence simply standing and watching.

A woman in a walking boot and wearing a cast wandered into the crowd of halted marchers at that point, and yelled, "You've got the attention, what are you going to do with it?"

Near the end of the march, Lacey riot police joined Olympia police at the artesian well, but the crowd of demonstrators had by that time noticeably thinned, and the Lacey riot police left the scene.

Roberts said the department's partnership with law enforcement all over Thurston County was part of what made the police response an overall success.

"We are very fortunate to have a good relationship with our law enforcement partners who are invested in our community as well," Robert said.

Olympia police were to be on a heightened alert overnight to ensure safety, Roberts added.

Shortly before 9 p.m., there were reports over the emergency dispatch radio of people breaking bottles at the artesian well, but other details were not available.

For the second straight year, the peaceful May Day events in downtown Olympia stood in contrast to the events in Seattle, where some demonstrators began throwing items and police used pepper spray, flash-bangs and a public-address system to disperse the crowd on Olive Way about 8:30 p.m. Some demonstrators in Seattle were arrested.

Earlier Wednesday in Olympia, the police response was intense, but demonstrators were peaceful. More than 100 May Day demonstrators marched through downtown Olympia about 3 p.m. as part of a planned "Shut Down the Banks" event.

"We are happy that there has been no criminal activity and everything has remained peaceful," OPD spokeswoman Laura Wohl said from a law enforcement command post at the Olympia Fire Department headquarters.

The group of afternoon marchers, which had swelled from only a dozen who gathered over the noon hour in Olympia's Sylvester Park, was mostly peaceful as it headed up Capitol Way to Chase Bank. At Chase Bank, the group rallied briefly then headed west to Columbia and then north back into downtown past Bank of America. The procession headed east on Fourth Avenue, stopped at the artesian well site at Fourth and Jefferson, then made their way back to Sylvester Park via Fifth Avenue.

On Fourth Avenue downtown, a group of about eight Olympia police officers wearing full riot gear followed the marchers, but there were no altercations.

Some demonstrators donned neckerchief-style masks and swore or gestured at law enforcement officers who followed the marchers on bicycles. One marcher pulled a portable stereo system in a red Radio Flyer wagon that blared loud rock music.

The day's events had started small and peaceful in Sylvester Park as Washington State Patrol troopers patrolled and media stood by.

A purple banner reading "Olympia May Day" and containing an anarchist's symbol was put up in front of the park's gazebo, and organizers offered free food ranging from muffins and coffee to pasta salad. Another sign posted read "Food not bombs."

Olympia resident Andrew Meyer, who joined the marchers Wednesday, said that he considers May Day a time to reflect on how the capitalist system oppresses working people, both locally and worldwide.

"I just look at it as a day to take a step back and recognize the importance of solidarity for workers," he said. "Not just in the United States, but across the world, the capitalist system has created a situation where people are suffering daily oppression."

Olympia mixed martial arts fighter and professed anarchist Jeff Monson spoke to the crowd in Sylvester Park over the PA system, and explained the importance of May Day historically in helping to advocate for the eight-hour work day.

"Corporations and banks have one agenda, and that's to make money," Monson said. "We are the people that make that money for them." Like Mayer, Monson also said solidarity is an important message of May Day.

"We're all in this together," Monson said in an interview. "Even the police officers, they're working for a wage."

Organizers set up a public address system and piped in upbeat music. People used chalk to write on the sidewalks in the park.

The group had on hand copies of Ken Keyes Jr.'s "100th Monkey," offering a theory about how social change takes place. One organizer wore a decorative mask much like those worn during Mardi Gras events.

Louis Strach, a law student at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., was among a small group wearing bright green ball caps that said "National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer."

"We're here to make sure the police are observing the law and respecting people's right to demonstrate," he said.

Police from most of Thurston County's major jurisdictions participated in patrols on foot, in marked cars and in unmarked cars, including Olympia, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, the Tumwater Police Department and the Washington State Patrol.

Olympia roommates Katherine “Kteeo” Olejnik and Matthew Duran were nowhere near Seattle’s May Day riot last year. But they say their refusal to identify friends’ political beliefs in a private grand-jury hearing about anarchist activity landed them in federal detention for five months — with several weeks of that time spent in solitary confinement.

A year after the rioting, they decided to be even farther away from Seattle’s May Day circus: This week, Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., invited them to speak on how difficult it’s been to recover from that experience.

“Solitary confinement is torture,” Duran said Wednesday.

Duran, 24, and Olejnik, 23, were isolated not because of any misbehavior at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center but because federal investigators were seeking to coerce their testimony.

Proof of whereabouts

The roommates say they provided proof of their whereabouts on May Day, but investigators were more interested in their friends’ political activities — information Olejnik said the government didn’t deserve to know.

Both said they were blindsided by subpoenas Federal Bureau of Investigation detectives served to them in July. During last year’s riot, Olejnik was at work and Duran was playing board games with friends. According to an FBI affidavit, detectives had been investigating a small group of Portland-based anarchists who allegedly stopped in Olympia before taking part in May Day vandalism in Seattle.

Later, another Olympia friend, Matthew “Maddy” Pfeiffer, was also subpoenaed. He, too, was put in solitary confinement after being detained in December.

To this day, the friends speculate about why they were targeted but can think of only one solid reason.

“Of our large group of friends, we generally lead more normal lives,” Duran said. “Maybe they thought we had more to lose.”

In solitary

Duran spent his first two weeks of detention in solitary confinement, then was returned to it Dec. 27 — where he stayed until he and Olejnik were released at the end of February. Olejnik spent her first six days of detention in solitary, was returned to it Dec. 27 and was kept there until at least Feb. 12.

With the exception of one monthly 15-minute phone call, their solitary confinement consisted of 24 hours of complete isolation with “exceedingly limited access to reading and writing material,” according to a federal court document.

“Their physical health has deteriorated sharply and their mental health has also suffered from the effects of solitary confinement,” said the federal order that eventually released them. “They have suffered the loss of jobs, income and important personal relationships.”

As grueling as their sentence was, Duran and Olejnik resolved to remain silent no matter how long or harsh their treatment.

“It was a choice I’d made and stuck by,” Duran said. “It’s not in me to aid the federal government’s investigation.”

The Recalcitrant Witness Statute could have kept both in detention for a maximum of 18 months, but a federal judge concluded that incarceration was not going to coerce testimony. The judge ordered their release Feb. 27. Their friend, Pfeiffer, was released in mid-April.

Olejnik said recovering is almost as tough as the incarceration.

“Getting out of prison is almost harder than being in prison,” Olejnik said of readjusting to society. “Every day gets easier, but it’s still the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced.”

After their release, Olejnik said she was able to return to a waitressing job at King Solomon’s Reef in Olympia, but Duran had lost his job at a computer-security company. He said he just recently found a cashier job at Home Depot and hopes to head back to school soon to study computers and radio engineering.

But their problems with the federal investigation, on which the U.S. Attorney’s Office will not comment, aren’t over. Until the statute of limitations runs out in five years, both could be found guilty of criminal contempt for not answering more questions before a grand jury.

“There’s no maximum-sentence guide for that, so we have no idea how long we’d serve for that,” Olejnik said.

It's almost May 1st, otherwise known as May Day or International Workers Day. The genesis of May Day can be traced to labor struggles of the late 19th century in the United States, but today it's more widely celebrated in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is keenly interested in May Day-focused political demonstrations as if they represent a real threat to National Security in the U.S.

A year ago, on May Day 2012, a demonstration in Seattle, Washington resulted in a few broken windows at certain targeted corporations and other locations. As a result of these actions, which have become relatively commonplace at political demonstrations over the past decade, local law enforcement arrested and began criminally prosecuting five people accused of property destruction and other crimes. Ironically and perhaps symbolically, the trials in these State cases are scheduled to occur just after this May Day 2013.

But, that's not the whole story.

Last July 25th, in the early morning hours, the FBI conducted a series of coordinated actions across the Pacific Northwest, during which dozens of Joint Terrorism Task Force agents broke down doors, entered residences with automatic weapons drawn, and used flash-bang grenades while searching the homes of several targeted individuals and serving subpoenas on others.

According to one of the search warrants used in the raids, the federal government was looking for "Anti-government or anarchist literature," black clothing, flags, flag-making material, address books, cell phones, hard drives and other electronic storage devices. Multiple people were served with subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury the following week in Seattle.

Although initially unclear, the federal government's motivations soon became clear. Ostensibly tied to criminal investigations surrounding the May Day 2012 demonstrations, the series of raids and grand jury subpoenas would frame an effort by the FBI over the ensuing months to find out more about the anarchist community. Official records, however, also revealed that political activists endured heavy surveillance in the days leading up to May Day 2012.

Indeed, political-based surveillance and infiltration has become a renewed and common policing practice over the past decade at protests in the U.S. The anarchist-inspired Global Justice movement, which formed in the late 1990s, culminated with massive protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. Images of Black Bloc anarchists breaking the windows of banks and corporate chain stores in 1999 gave the federal government a modern day "bogeyman," which it has strategically used to antagonize and intimidate activists of all political persuasions ever since.

By constantly invoking the specter of "violent anarchists," and "outside agitators," law enforcement and other public officials hope to intimidate those demanding broad-based social change. Negative perceptions of anarchists and anarchism are not only generated by government and unquestioningly perpetuated by mainstream media, but they are also routinely used to drive a wedge between dissidents and an otherwise supportive public. The manufactured fear of anarchist bogeymen is conveniently used to justify the tens of billions of dollars spent on so-called "homeland security."

According to a recent report by the National Lawyers Guild, the "violent anarchist" narrative is used by authorities prior to almost every large political demonstration in order to justify "enormous security expenditures, large numbers of police, and strict event zone ordinances." The Guild further asserts that this strategy "produces a 'threat amplification' spiral that consistently leads to sweeping police repression," which is "the desired outcome of a multi-pronged strategy of maintaining control over the populace."

* * *

So, why is the cash-strapped U.S. Justice Department so interested in a few broken windows? According to the affidavit used to obtain search warrants in the coordinated July raids, the pretext used by U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan was to find and prosecute the people who vandalized the William Kenzo Nakamura U.S. Courthouse in downtown Seattle. But, why didn't the State of Washington bring charges against the accused like it did with the five people currently being prosecuted? Many activists believe that Durkan and the rest of the Justice Department are eager to learn more about anarchists, disrupt their communities, and deter activists from confrontational political protest.

The search warrant affidavit, which was hidden from public view until earlier this year when The Stranger and attorney Neil Fox got the court to unseal it, contained some clues. In order to get a federal judge to sign the search warrant, the government claimed the raids would yield "evidence, instrumentalities, or fruits of violations of the following offenses:"

Destruction of government property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1361; Conspiracy to destroy government property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; Interstate travel with intent to riot, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2101; and Conspiracy to travel interstate with intent to riot, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

While the federal government could convene a grand jury based on any of the above charges, it's the last two that stand out as a particularly aggressive legal move. Crossing state lines with the intent to riot and conspiracy to do the same are felonies contained in a little known provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 -- passed in response to inner-city riots throughout the previous decade. Although not explicitly protesting racial inequality, the Chicago 8 defendants were accused of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and were the first to be indicted under the Act. Have we progressed so little that we're using the same sensationalized charges 45 years later in an attempt to undermine yet another political movement?

* * *

Last summer, in the Pacific Northwest, anarchists and other activists quickly came together after the July raids to organize a response to the grand jury subpoenas. A group calling itself the Committee Against Political Repression, which takes a principled stand against cooperation with politically motivated grand juries, began to stage demonstrations and offer direct material and legal support to those subpoenaed. Solidarity actions began happening across the country and around the world. As a result of widespread opposition to the government's apparent fishing expedition in the anarchist community, one-by-one people refused to testify and answer questions being asked by the federal prosecutor.

By the end of 2012, four of those subpoenaed had been jailed, not based on any criminal convictions, but for refusing to testify before the grand jury. Matt Duran, Katherine "KteeO" Olejnik, Leah-Lynn Plante, and Matthew "Maddy" Pfeiffer all made strong public statements against cooperation. Duran and Olejnik were the first to be jailed for civil contempt in September. Then, in October, Plante was jailed, but a week later released under an apparent agreement to testify. In late December, Pfeiffer joined Duran and Olejnik in jail, with the three spending several weeks in solitary confinement without explanation.

Under the rules of the U.S. justice system, one can be jailed for civil contempt if he or she refuses to testify before a grand jury after being granted so-called "use immunity," which can protect a subpoenant from being prosecuted for crimes related to the grand jury. However, this immunity may not protect the subpoenant from being prosecuted for other crimes such as perjury. Civil contempt must be imposed as a means of coercing not punishing one to testify. In order to achieve this end, the court can keep you jailed until the grand jury expires, up to 18 months.

Under some circumstances, a subpoenant can be released early if he or she can demonstrate that no amount of coercion will result in the desired testimony. This can be achieved with a "motion for release from non-coercive confinement," or "Grumbles" motion, named after the appellants in a 1971 court case.

In February, after spending five months in jail, Duran and Olejnik filed Grumbles motions, but not before the Seattle Human Rights Commission sent a scathing letter to federal District Court Judge Richard Jones, condemning the use of solitary confinement and calling for the prisoners' immediate release. According to The Stranger, attorneys for Duran and Olejnik argued that not only was their clients' detention punitive, but the government also appeared to no longer need their testimony, based on information revealed in the search warrant affidavit.

It's rare for Grumbles motions to succeed, given a government-leaning judicial system and the blurry line between coercion and punishment. Despite this, Judge Jones decided to free Duran and Olejnik days later with a strongly worded order. Judge Jones noted that during the detainees' time in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) of the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, "Their physical health has deteriorated sharply and their mental health has also suffered from the effects of solitary confinement." The Jones order echoed "extensive declarations" by Duran and Olejnik that "they will never end their confinement by testifying."

Shortly after Duran and Olejnik's release, the still-detained Pfeiffer was also set free. But freedom for the grand jury resisters has not resulted in an end to the federal government's campaign against the anarchist community. According to The Stranger, over the past week, FBI agents in Seattle and Olympia identifying themselves as members of the domestic terrorism unit have been "showing up at people's houses, jogging locations, schools, [and] workplaces," asking about "coworkers, roommates, romantic situations, and general social-mapping questions." Without a shred of evidence of terrorist activity or motivations, dissidents are left to assume that this continued harassment is at least partly aimed at chilling political protest on May Day 2013.

Although there remains a looming threat of federal indictments, dissidents are refusing to be intimidated. Activists of all stripes are busily organizing May Day activities and are continuing their efforts to draw attention to the federal grand jury in Seattle and to support those resisting its fishing expedition. Anarchists and other dissidents from around the country have organized a week of actions from April 24th-May 1st to oppose political repression and express solidarity with grand jury resisters.

* * *

Unfettered speculation on the true motivations of the federal government to pursue political demonstrators is of limited and questionable utility, but the material consequences of such pursuits can be clearly tracked. The FBI's concerted campaign to drum up hysteria and justify the massive resources spent in chasing anarchists represents a law enforcement trend with loud echoes of McCarthyism, wherein FBI targets were identified by what books they read and with whom they kept company rather than on the basis of criminal acts. Harkening back to an era of blacklists and thought crime, the trend of using grand juries to target holders of unpopular political views represents a real move toward a dangerous and deeply troubling infringement on the civil liberties of all.

Although proportionally the federal government's targeting of largely white and young political radicals represents a smaller total number of terrorism-related investigations, the pattern of using grand juries as secret forums to ask activists what organizations they belong to, who they associate with and to scrutinize their political beliefs on the basis of "Americanism" closely parallels the hearings held by the House Subcommittee on Unamerican Activities. In this context, the activists in the Pacific Northwest who have vowed not to cooperate with politically motivated grand juries can be seen as canaries in the coal mine and the importance of their resistance to government intimidation cannot be overstated. Regardless of what one may think of the political philosophy, these government-identified anarchists merit widespread support and the gratitude of all who wish to exercise civil liberties so now in question.