Thread by @R3volutionDaddy

Current scene in Olympia, WA. Earlier activists provided shelter for 40+ houseless folks at the Red Lion near the Capitol. About 2 hours ago police and state troopers showed up & have been holding the line. About 7 detainees thus far and they are now detaining houseless folks

Police are claiming this is a hostage situation. When I was streaming earlier you could hear people living in the apartments next to the hotel yelling at the police for trapping them in their homes. One asked how he was supposed to walk his dog.

There are LOTS of police behind the hotel as well. People are yelling to the cops asking what the charges are as no one knows why they’re being arrested (aside from the fact that being poor is a crime in America)

Someone that follows me mom messaged me that they’re stuck inside the business they work at and the police won’t let them go home

Cops searching a hotel room. Numerous people have already offered to pay for all the rooms in the hotel. Some Pepper bullets and a flash bang were thrown a few minutes ago

An Indigenous activist plays a song to dishonor the police for all their atrocities

Fascists on Tour

Why is any of this necessary?? (It’s not)

Someone asked the cops “how many rooms could you buy for what *gestures* all this costs?”

So.... a flashbang went off INSIDE the hotel and now they’re taking a stretcher inside...

There are now a lot more police inside.

Someone serenades the police in the rain while someone else remains trapped in the tattoo shop wanting to go home. I’m heading arrest # is up to 19

Ambulance just left from the back of the hotel. They didn’t have their lights or sirens on so hoping that’s a good sign

Police have mostly cleared out. All the houseless folks are out. A few people have been arrested but most of them were processed on site

Unsure where The houseless folks are going but it’s freezing outside and it’s pouring down rain. It’s fucking devastating to even try to process what just happened

I’m seriously so upset by all this I’m having a hard time finding words to describe how fucking violent this is. Regardless of the fact that if people *had* taken over the property it would have been a Good Thing™️ because of what they’re doing-

MULTIPLE PEOPLE OFFERED TO PAY FOR ALL THE ROOMS IN THE HOTEL. Violent is too soft a word tbh. The displacement of houseless people is murder. ESPECIALLY now.

Here’s a statement from @OlyHousingNow from earlier today.

They explain how they planned to use the motel for emergency pandemic housing.

The group called on “Thurston County to Pay for the Rooms with FEMA Funding That Covers Non-Congregate Shelter at 100%”

There weren’t this many police when fascists shot antifascist protesters two weekends in a row right by the Capitol either.

https://twitter.com/legalroar/status/1356141710108221445

People tried to help provide houseless folks shelter during a deadly pandemic in freezing temperatures and in return are arrested with no bail... worse charges than the shooter in December.

Have been speaking to some houseless folks at the camp who were there last night and got arrested. The police didn’t return most of their belongings including wallets