Action Analysis Featured

Puget Sound and Beyond: Getting Ready for the Andre + Bryson Verdict

Submitted Anonymously

Few outside of Olympia may remember back in May of 2015 two black youth, Andre and Bryson, were shot in the back by notoriously racist and violent Olympia Police Officer Ryan Donald. Thankfully and luckily they survived (though Bryson ended up paralyzed and in a wheelchair) and the state kicked into high gear to try and punish them for living. After investigating themselves and of course finding they did nothing wrong they started a lengthy court battle against Andre and Bryson, which affects not only them but their family and community, by pressing charges of assaulting an officer. The trial has ended and the jury is almost done with deliberation, a decision is most likely going to be reached by Monday, May 15th and we are ready to once again witness how the state and it’s injustice system does not give a singular fuck about black people and our lives. We understand full well that, no matter the decision reached, in a white supremacist-settler colonial system blackness is always guilty and police are free to play judge-jury-and executioner.

IF THEY ARE DEEMED GUILTY we call for a week of co-ordinated and decentralized attacks against the police, the courts, the jails and prisons, and the City of Olympia in particular, starting from the day of the verdict. We want to put out there that while a riot can be an attack, not every attack is a riot and not every riot is an attack. Get fun, get creative, and don’t let up pressure. While this particular instance is about Andre and Bryson, it’s also about all of our people who have been murdered or kidnapped by the police, it’s about the system that sees our lives as worthless and seeks to exterminate us. The war is always on.

Here is some info that could be helpful.*

OLYMPIA CITY HALL
601 4th Ave East
Olympia, Wa 98501
MAILING ADDRESS
PO Box 1967
Olympia WA 98507-1967

OLYMPIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Police Department (non-emergency number): 360.753.8300
PD Main Business Line: 360.753.8300
[email protected]
Mailing Address
(All facilities, divisions, bureaus and units)
Olympia Police Department
P.O. Box 1967
Olympia, WA 98507-1967

THURSTON COUNTY COURT HOUSE
2000 Lakeridge Dr S.W.

THURSTON COUNTY PROSECUTERS OFFICE
2000 Lakeridge Dr S.W.
Building 2
Olympia, WA 98502
Ph: (360) 786-5540
Fx: (360) 754-3358
Email: [email protected]

City Council Office + City Manager’s Office: 60.753.8447
Steve Hall, City Manager; 360.753.8447; [email protected]
Jay Burney, Assistant City Manager; 360.753.8740; [email protected]

Mayor Cheryl Selby
Mail: Olympia City Council, PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967
Phone: 360.753.8447 (City Council office)
Email: [email protected]

City Council Member Clark Gilman
Mail: Olympia City Council, PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967
Phone: 360.753.8447 (City Council office)
Email: [email protected]
City Council Member Jeannine Roe
Mail: Olympia City Council, PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967
Phone: 360.753.8447 (City Council office)
Email: [email protected]
City Council Member Jessica Bateman
Mail: Olympia City Council, PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967
Phone: 360.753.8447 (City Council office)
Email: [email protected]

City Council Member Jim Cooper
Mail: Olympia City Council, PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967
Phone: 360.753.8447 (City Council office)
Email: [email protected]

City Council Member Julie Hankins
Mail: Olympia City Council, PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967
Phone: 360.753.8447 (City Council office)
Email: [email protected]

IF THEY ARE DEEMED NOT GUILTY then we’re gonna fuckin celebrate that luck was on their side. Then we’re gonna remember that while the trial is over and done with, the lives of Andre and Bryson and their family will never be the same and they will still need love and support. We also need to keep perspective and realize that this is just one battle of a protracted war that’s been going on for 500 years and we would do well to recognize what went well, where we dropped the ball, and take those lessons and this momentum into future struggles. Perhaps one of the big lessons we can draw on right now, not just from this case but from all cases of police violence, is that we cannot be reactive and only act when the state kills. We need to have serious conversations of what it means to take the initiative, to go on the attack and interrupt the machinery of the white supremacist death machine. Remember, the killing won’t stop unless we stop it.

Regardless of the outcome, the family and their supporters have said that day of the verdict they will meet at 7pm at the heritage park fountain to either celebrate or to mourn and vent their anger. They ask supporters wear purple and/or red as those are Andre and Brysons favorite colors.

The struggle continues until all are free….

Black Autonomy Action Faction (A) (///)

*NOTE: If anyone has any information regarding personal contact or address of the mayor, any of the city council people, Officer Donald, or Chief Ronnie Roberts, let us know at blackautonomyaction (at) protonmail (dot) com