OLYMPIA (AP) — Thirteen people protesting proposed budget cuts were arrested at the state Capitol Thursday, including one man who reportedly assaulted two state troopers, police said.
The incident prompted officials to shut down the main legislative building to the general public late Thursday afternoon, citing safety concerns. It is scheduled to reopen Friday at 7 a.m., said Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the state Department of General Administration.
A crowd of about 400 protesters converged on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office around 2:30 p.m. after several hours of loud demonstrations in and around the main legislative building. Most of the protesters were mental health and home care workers represented by the Service Employees International Union 1199 NW and SEIU 775 NW.
A scuffle broke out as police tried to keep people from entering Gregoire’s office, said Washington State Patrol spokesman Robert Calkins. One man was arrested for attacking two troopers, who were not seriously injured, he said.
Calkins said that man will be booked on two counts of assault, while 12 others arrested for disorderly conduct will be cited and released.
Around 5 p.m., the Department of General Administration and police decided to restrict access the building to lawmakers, staff and lobbyists, Valandra said. A small group of protesters continued to demonstrate outside the building.
“We made a decision that it was in the best interest of the security and safety of the building tonight,” Valandra said, adding that it was the first time in his 11-year tenure that he recalled the building being closed to the public.
Thursday marked the third day labor groups gathered in Olympia to protest spending cuts aimed at closing Washington’s looming $5 billion deficit.
House lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a budget plan that would slash state spending by $4.4 billion for the 2011-2013 budget cycle. The Senate will follow next week with its own budget proposal.
Earlier in the afternoon, the protesters entered the House chamber, disrupting the floor session with chants such as “Shame on you!” until police escorted them out.
Leading up to the arrests, the protesters were largely well-behaved, Calkins said, describing them “loud but safe.”
Calkins said he believed the individuals who were taken into custody may have intended to get arrested in order to make a statement — a claim that drew skepticism from SEIU 775 NW vice president Adam Glickman.
“These were all low-wage caregivers who make $10 an hour, and I think they were all very angry and frustrated at the proposed cuts,” he said. “I don’t think people came looking to get arrested, but I think people were prepared to engage in civil disobedience if that’s what it took to get their voices heard.”
On Wednesday, several hundred demonstrators gathered inside the Capitol to urge lawmakers to discontinue tax breaks for certain groups and industries — such as financial services, insurance, film production and out-of-state shoppers — before resorting to painful cuts.
About 50 of them spent the night on the hard marble floor inside the central rotunda.
State Patrol Lt. Mark Arras said the decision to allow the unusual sleepover came from Gregoire’s office, the State Patrol and the Department of General Administration.
Several members of Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights, one of the organizations participating in the rallies, had planned to stay over at the Capitol Thursday night but were forced out by the lockdown, said the group’s executive director, Monica Peabody.
“It just seems like, if we don’t have access to our legislators, what do we have?” she said by phone Thursday evening, calling the decision to lock the doors “an egregious violation of our rights.”
Valandra said protesters were free to exercise their right to free speech outside the building, and that the lockdown would not affect a major rally planned for Friday that is expected to draw several thousand people.
The Washington State Labor Council, which helped organize the protests, posted an announcement on its website calling Friday’s event “the big one.”
“Washington’s working families are tired of being blamed and punished for the damage done by Wall Street banks and corporations,” the group said, urging citizens to join its call to lawmakers to “put people first.”
If Friday’s crowd swells to the size organizers are predicting, the protest could be the largest at the Capitol in recent years. In 2003, tens of thousands of Washington teachers gathered to protest cuts to education funding.
