JUNE 9, 2015
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Six activists protesting Shell's plans to drill for oil in
the Arctic Ocean were arrested Tuesday, five who blocked entrances to the
Seattle port where the company's massive rig is parked and another who
disrupted a port commission meeting.
In the morning, five activists tried to block work at the
port to prevent the ship from heading to the waters off Alaska, a spokeswoman
for ShellNo Action Council told The Seattle Times (http://is.gd/YlvSdc).
Seattle police arrested five members of a group called the
Seattle Raging Grannies, who had chained themselves together in rocking chairs.
The five women — the oldest was 92 — were arrested for investigation of
obstruction and pedestrian interference. They were processed then quickly
released from the department's Southwest Precinct in West Seattle.
They were arrested for blocking train tracks outside
Terminal 5, officers said.
Trains going through the area were held from 6:30 a.m. until
around 10 a.m. because of the protest, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said.
The grannies were part of two simultaneous protests in
Seattle on Tuesday morning against Shell's offshore oil rig, which is at the
terminal being prepared for Arctic drilling this summer.
A group of younger protesters camped out on an overpass
above, with two heavy oil drums and signs, while the grannies chained their
wooden rocking chairs together on the BNSF Railway tracks below. The women were
also bound together by homemade arm sleeves.
Seattle police Lt. Jim Arata warned the younger protesters
that they had to move their oil drums and get off the overpass above Terminal 5
or face arrest. When officers arrived with a truck full of saws, jackhammers
and other heavy-duty tools in case the protesters were chained to the oil
drums, the protesters got up and walked away.
The five grannies stayed.
Members of the device-removal team spent about 10 minutes
sawing and cutting into two separate "sleeping dragons," which linked
four of the grannies together by the arms.
When police sawed through the duct-tape-covered arm sleeves,
they found rope, rebar, metal and burlap, Arata said. Police covered the
grannies in fireproof blankets to protect them from flying debris while
officials cut through the sleeves.
Later Tuesday afternoon, activists demonstrated outside the
Port of Seattle headquarters. A commission meeting was quickly adjourned when
protesters disrupted the meeting, and one person was arrested for trespassing,
said port spokesman Peter McGraw.
Meanwhile, other protesters took to their telephones to
engage in an "electronic blockade" of local businesses supporting Royal
Dutch Shell PLC. Businesses targeted included the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union Local 19, Jones Stevedoring, Carlile Trucking, Incident
Catering Services and Foss Maritime Co.
--////////////////////////---
5 ‘Raging Grannies’ arrested in anti-Shell protest at Terminal 5
Five members of the
Seattle activist group the “Raging Grannies” were arrested by police
Tuesday morning during a protest outside Terminal 5.
Five members of the Seattle activist group the “Raging Grannies” were arrested by police Tuesday morning during a protest outside Terminal 5.
But it wasn’t easy.
The women, dressed in long skirts and sun hats and sipping from porcelain teacups, were bound together by so-called “sleeping dragons,” makeshift sleeves constructed with materials designed to make their removal difficult and time-consuming.
The “grannies” were part of two simultaneous protests against Shell’s offshore oil rig, which is at the terminal being prepared for Arctic drilling this summer.
While a group of younger protesters camped out on an overpass above, with two heavy oil drums and signs, the grannies chained their wooden rocking chairs together on the BNSF Railway tracks below. Four of the women were also bound together by the homemade arm sleeves.
Seattle police Lt. Jim Arata warned the younger protesters that they had to move their oil drums and get off the overpass above Terminal 5, or face arrest. When the department’s Apparatus Response Team (ART) pulled up with a pickup truck full of saws, jackhammers and other heavy-duty tools in case the protesters were chained to the oil drums, the protesters got up and walked away.
The five grannies, on the other hand, stayed put when the team arrived.
The department formed ART during Seattle’s 1999 WTO riots as a specialty team trained to safely remove protesters who chain themselves to objects or each other, Arata said.
ART members spent about 10 minutes sawing and cutting into two separate “sleeping dragons,” which linked the four “grannies” together by the arms.
Arata said that when police sawed through the duct tape-covered arm sleeves they found rope, rebar, metal and burlap. He said that police covered the grannies in fireproof blankets while they cut through the sleeves to protect them from flying debris.
“They’re meant to slow us down and defeat us,” Arata said about the sleeves.
While ART members worked, a nearby crowd of about 30 protesters chanted “rock on, grannies” and sang songs in support.
The five women — the oldest was 92 — were arrested for investigation of obstruction and pedestrian interference. They were processed and released from the department’s Southwest Precinct in West Seattle.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said trains going through the area were held from 6:30 a.m. until around 10 a.m. because of the protest.
Southwest Precinct Capt. Pierre Davis said the arrests “gave them [the grannies] a visual victory.” He said police were prepared for the two protests at Terminal 5 and had medics on scene in case there were any injuries.
Stina Janssen, a spokeswoman for the ShellNo! Action Council, which opposes Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet, said the protesters were trying to “block work Tuesday in order to stop Shell drilling’s oil rig from going out on time.”
One person was arrested for trespassing after failing to leave commission chambers when ordered to, McGraw said. Port of Seattle police are searching for another person who allegedly “elbowed” an officer, he added.