Port Townsend Police reviewing complaints prompted by anti-trans protest

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The only person arrested during last week’s confrontation between anti-trans demonstrators and their critics has not been charged with any crimes.

At an event built as a press conference in front of Port Townsend City Hall Aug. 15, supporters of Julie Jaman clashed with members of a crowd that numbered nearly 300 pro-trans supporters.

Five cases of minor assault or theft are being actively investigated by Port Townsend police, said Police Chief Thomas Olson.

“There was no property damage in the area, no officers were hurt, no use of force by officers, and we had one physical arrest,” Olson said.

“At the end of event, we had nobody seriously injured, and no visual injuries to anybody.”

Online accounts of last Monday’s press conference and its ensuing protest made by organizers of the event cast a completely different picture, with organizers of the “Let Julie Swim” event claiming that they had suffered multiple physical and sexual assaults during the standoff.

Event organizers also criticized the police response to the incident, and said they were considering legal action.

The demonstration was called to support Jaman, 80, a Port Townsend resident who was banned from Mountain View Pool after she confronted a transgender YMCA employee, asked her if she had a penis, and started yelling at the pool manager in late July.

Jaman encountered the employee while the worker was chaperoning two children from a summer camp while they used the restroom. YMCA officials said the employee had done nothing wrong and was with the youngsters as part of the YMCA’s “rule of three” policy, which prohibits minors from being alone with staff members.

YMCA officials said earlier that Jaman had a history of breaking the organization’s code of conduct, and that bias, hatred, and discrimination are not tolerated by the Y.

Jaman and her supporters have also decried the YMCA’s policy of maintaining universal changing rooms at the pool, but Y officials have noted the rules follow state law that require universal access. The organization has also stressed that YMCA employees and members are also vetted through multiple background checks before being allowed to work at or use their facilities.

Amy Sousa, the lead organizer of last week’s press conference, condemned the law enforcement response to the event, and claimed the pro-Jaman group of 30 or so were mobbed by protesters, pushed around, and assaulted, and added without proof that “Antifa” attended the event and were armed with pepper spray, batons, and firearms.

Though nobody was moderately or severely harmed during the protest, Olson noted the limited time to prepare for the protest, the lack of communication by the press conference’s lead organizer, and having to monitor and secure city hall and the protest location at the same time as primary reasons for the escalation of the event.

The one person arrested, a 44-year-old Port Townsend man, was handcuffed and booked into the Jefferson County Jail for third-degree assault and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

As of Monday, he had not been charged. He was released after his arrest last week.

POLICE WORK GOES ON

The police department is continuing its review of the protest.

“We are currently investigating approximately five cases that are either very minor assault or some categorized as robberies,” Olson said.

“Some of these people feel like they were victims, and I respect that, but it’s similar to being in a mosh pit. This is pretty common in these types of high-emotion protests and rallies,” he said.

Olson said evidence was immediately lacking for some of the other claims by pro-Jaman supporters who were confronted by others with opposing views during the demonstration.

“We did not see or have indication that there were any Antifa members at the event. There were some people dressed in all black with backpacks. In fact, one of my officers was monitoring them at all times,” Olson added.

According to Olson, a total of 18 members of law enforcement were present at the protest, including members of the Washington State Patrol, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Port Townsend Police Department.

Olson also said the sheriff’s office conducted patrols around Port Townsend while Washington State Patrol’s troopers were responsible for traffic control and crowd control, meaning authorities had essentially 10 or so members of law enforcement to handle a crowd of 300-plus people.

The police department was also responsible for protecting Port Townsend City Hall on the other side of the street — with a city council meeting scheduled to start an hour after  the press conference — causing the police to be heavily outnumbered while securing two separate locations.

“It was open to the public. If you listen to the speakers at all, [they were] almost speaking to the people not on the same side,” Olson said. “All of our officers were primarily focused on an orderly council meeting; we were initially working on that when the special event request came in.”

Sousa applied for the special event request five days before the event and didn’t request a law enforcement presence. It was also meant to be “open to the public,” according to her event application obtained via a public records request.

MEASURED APPROACH NEEDED

It would be a lose-lose situation if police got involved in every skirmish throughout the protest, Olson said, considering the hundreds of people attending the event and the likelihood of it escalating further if law enforcement started arresting people on either side.

“We don’t have the ability to go in and take out every single agitator,” he added. “Every time we do these things, when police go into the crowd, it automatically agitates one side or the other.”

RIGHT WING OUTRAGE

Since the protest, Souza, Jaman and their supporters have continued to lambaste the police chief, the local police department, and the city of Port Townsend. Fixation on the YMCA controversy has continued on conservative media outlets, and Jaman has since appeared on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show.

On Carlson’s broadcast, Jaman continued to falsely refer the trans employee as a “man in a woman’s suit,” and criticized the YMCA and city of Port Townsend even though protections for transgender people using public restrooms is a state law.

Carlson, a well-known opponent of the LGBTQ+ community and strong proponent of law enforcement, said during his show that “I hope they rot” toward local law enforcement for their supposed inaction during the protest.”

Jaman’s story was first picked up by conservative media in early August. Multiple Port Townsend-based agencies and organizations have been at the receiving end of threatening messages and harassment, including the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, the Port Townsend Police Department, city of Port Townsend, and Mountain View Pool staff.

The pool was closed for more than a week due to the harassment and safety concerns. The facility re-opened Wednesday, Aug. 17.

While the pool was closed, hourly staff were provided with opportunities to continue working at the YMCA’s daycare program and summer camp was moved off-site to continue those services, according to Y officials.

“We’re very grateful for our partnerships with other organizations in the community, including [the] Port Townsend School District and Jefferson County for helping to accommodate our programs off-site,” said Erin Hawkins, communications director for the Olympic Peninsula YMCA. “Members have been very supportive and understanding while we were closed. We’ve received many positive emails from members, and even items like cards and flowers showing their support.”

Another protest is planned for Saturday, Sept. 3, though Sousa and her supporters have disavowed the event, stating they disapproved of the date, format, language, and messaging of the protest. The upcoming event is being planned by Vancouver, Washington resident Robert Zerfing.